An Inconvenient Truth
by Unwritten.25
Summary: AU ItaNaru Uzumaki Naruto was taken from Konoha at age 6 by a friend of his parents, after a mob beating. After eight years of one on one training, Naruto is coming back to Konoha to become a Genin. ON HIATUS.
1. In Which Uzumaki Naruto Returns

**Summary: **Uzumaki Naruto was taken from Konoha at age 6 by a friend of his parents, after a mob beating. After eight years of one-on-one training and learning techniques handed down through his family Naruto is coming back to Konoha to become a Genin.

**Pairings: **Naruto/Itachi (main, eventual), mentions of Kakashi/Iruka, Sakura/Ino, Sasuke/Temari, Neji/Shikamaru, Kiba/Hinata, Zabuza/Haku, Sasuke/Naruto (one-sided), Lee/Sakura (one-sided).

**Disclaimer: **If I owned Naruto, Sasuke wouldn't have left, Sakura would be less annoying, and Yondaime would still be alive. Plus there'd be Yaoi. Lots of it. Anyone who suggests that this story doesn't belong to its wonderful author will be fed to Kama-chan.

**Warnings:** This is a **SLASH** story, which means there will be **guys on guys **and **girls on girls**. There will be a lot of scenes that contain **violence** and **swearing** as well as some scenes that contain **mature content** (which means **sex** people). There will be some minor **OOC-ness**, but I'll do my best to keep them in character. There will be a small smattering of **Original Characters**. Naruto & co. will be **14** in this fic, which will be explained later on. If anything of the above irritates/offends/disgusts/irks you I suggest you don't continue and hit the back button.

**Author's Note:** Well! I've been working on AIT ever since Jan. of this year (2007), but the first chapter is only just being finished. It took me so long because the plot was constantly changing and I abandoned it for most of the summer to write other stories. Please review, as I'd love to have some advice/criticism to work on. Enjoy minna-san!

"Talking" / _'Thinking'_ / _Emphasized words _/ **"Kyuubi speaking" **/ _**'Kyuubi thinking'**_

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter One: In Which Uzumaki Naruto Returns and the Fun Begins**

Journal (Since you are NOT a Diary. Nope, just a manly little journal),

Today was really weird.

First of all I left Rai-nii-san earlier that I planned; that lazy old man decided to stay behind! Can you believe it?! How stupid of him! And, then when I was going by Suna, I met this really weird old guy who kept saying 'I am the SUPER Pervert, Jiraiya-sama!' or something like that nonsense. He really isn't what you'd expect of a Sannin (I do know who he is. It's rather obvious when he shoots off his name like that). I was stopping him from peeping in on ladies when I first met him (had to do my manly duty of course). Then when he saw me, he asked all sorts of questions about my name, where I was going, why I was going there. When I said my name was Uzumaki Naruto, I was heading to Konohagakure no Sato for the Genin Exams (after checking for Genjutsu; I'm not that stupid) he got real excited, and then told me I was his apprentice without so much as a by-your-leave. Then he said he'd accompany me to Konoha. What a strange old guy. He didn't ask any more questions after that, so I didn't tell him about my relations to the Uzumaki's; he may be the "great" Jiraiya-pervert, but I don't know him well enough to divulge my secrets to him. Maybe I'll tell him when we get to Konoha?

Anyways, here I am, traveling to my homeland with a strange white-haired pervert that randomly decided to join me on a journey. Joy.

-Excerpt from the Journal of Uzumaki Naruto

* * *

**Konohagakure: Hi no Kuni  
****The 5th of May**

Konohagakure no Sato was peaceful in the early hours of May 5th. The villagers were still asleep in their beds, safe in knowing that their walls and homes were protected by very capable shinobi. Their eyes wouldn't open for another hour or so, when they needed to get up and open their shops and stalls. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon, and the entire city was quiet and dark.

The gates of Konoha were drowned in the faint mist that came only in the early mornings. Two shinobi were guarding it, looking more asleep than awake. One had his head tucked onto his chest, dozing lightly, while the other leaned against a wall, doing her best to stay awake. Being as drowsy as they were, neither of them noticed the strangers until they were in front of them.

One, the shinobi knew instantly; the legendary Gama Sannin, Jiraiya-sama. He had always been known for his long ponytail of spiky white hair, his outlandish clothes, and the two red tear trails that fell from his eyes and down his chin. On his back was the scroll that allowed him to summon the great Gamabunta; lord of the Toads.

However his companion hadn't been seen before in Konoha. Underneath a dirty white bandana the kunoichi could see spiked blonde hair, a color rarely seen in Konoha. Cat-like deep blue eyes peeked out from the stray bangs that had fallen out of his headband and the kunoichi could see sharp whisker like marks on either side of his mouth. He was dressed in a white _Haori_, whose sleeves were pulled up to reveal bandaged arms, and a black _Hakama_ which covered his geta-clad feet. Dressed in traditional clothing as he was and with a long _Katana_ on his back, the boy almost looked like a wandering samurai.

Both shinobi were instantly on alert; Jiraiya-sama may have been trustworthy, but they did not recognize his companion. However the large man laughed when he noticed their suspicious looks, slapping the back of his slightly shorter companion. Said boy scowled and glared up at the renowned Gama Sannin, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'Ero-Sennin' underneath his breath.

"Ohayo Gozimasu," Jiraiya said in a formal tone, dropping into a short bow. "I would like to speak to Sandaime-sama please. It's urgent."

The kunoichi nodded but eyed the blonde boy suspiciously, "You may go in Jiraiya-sama, but we need to know your companion's identity before he can be allowed inside." She couldn't help the feeling that the strange boy looked familiar……

Nobody noticed the sudden tensing of the blonde boy's shoulders, or how his hand formed a fist so hard that a few drops of blood fell silently to the ground from it. However, after a few moments of awkward silence, the boy smiled a huge, bright, blinding smile. Later the male shinobi would say that Maito Gai and his protégé Rock Lee could learn a few things about blinding smiles from this boy. And, since both men were the masters of the 'Good Guy Pose', that was saying something.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the now named boy said slowly, "returning to the village after eight years absence."

Both shinobi tensed even more, and the male guard was now completely awake, his head itching for his Kunai case. The female found her hand on the hilt of her short dagger, her Chakra spiking wildly with alarm.

Uzumaki Naruto had been born in the village 14 years ago, on the night of the dreaded Kyuubi attack. Sandaime had announced after the survivors had emerged from the ashes, that Yondaime had sacrificed himself to seal the demon into a small orphan child. He had gone on to tell about Yondaime's last wish that the boy would be known as a hero, but most of the remaining villagers ignored him, instead glaring at the bundle with blonde hair in his arms. Hate was already gnawing away at their hearts, fueled by the fear of the Kyuubi and the grief for their lost loved ones. The little container's name was etched into the villager's minds, always there to spit at and loathe and detest with a passion.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Uzumaki had lived in the village for six years; this the kunoichi guard knew. He had been shunned by the villagers, treated cruelly by them, and she knew that the night before his disappearance, the civilians had ganged up on him and beaten him to a near deathlike state. She had, after all, watched them, silently cheering them on and not interfering with the beatings. Why would she after all? She had left before the end though, continuing with her patrol with a jaunty stroll and cheery whistle. The next day, the boy had disappeared. There had been an outrage (_what if he comes back to kill us all?_) but eventually it died down, and the villagers began to forget him. Even some of the Shinobi had failed to remember his existence, and since the search had been called off years ago, nobody really thought of him anymore except for, perhaps, the Hokage.

And now the forgotten demon was back and with the great Jiraiya-sama.

The Sannin smiled and placed a hand on the younger boy's shoulder, "Now if you could please step aside….? I have important things to talk about with Sandaime-sama."

"No," the male guard's voice was hard as ice. "You may go in Jiraiya-sama, but the demon stays out."

Jiraiya's dark brown eyes hardened and the kunoichi could see him restraining a glare at her companion. She also noticed the silent tensing of the demon's shoulders, and prepared herself for an attack. To her surprise, none came, and she glanced at his face to see a huge smile on his face.

"It's alright Ero-Sennin," both shinobi gasped at the rude nickname. "Go inside. You need to get your information to Jiji-sama."

The Gama Sannin's hand tightened on his companion's shoulder, "Naruto, you're coming in with me. Sarutobi-sensei will want to see you as well."

"He's not entering this village," the kunoichi spoke, her eyes hardening. "We won't allow a demon like that to enter and defile our peaceful village once again."

Naruto's eyes hardened and the kunoichi could see him barely restraining to pounce at her. This thought made her hand tighten on her dagger's hilt, and set her thoughts in stone. This demon _wouldn't_ be allowed in Konoha, not if her life depended on it. If this brat was going to go on a killing spree, innocent people would be caught in the rush. She _wouldn't_ allow that to happen.

Jiraiya, however, had other ideas.

"I need to give important information to Sandaime-sama, and the brat is my apprentice – he goes where I go. By denying him entrance you are also forbidding me entrance," the Sannin's voice was hard and suddenly the two guards could see glimpses of _why_ people feared to meet the great Jiraiya-sama in battle.

The kunoichi allowed her hand to drop from her dagger's hilt, but still kept her eyes on Uzumaki at all times. Quickly she gestured to her partner to stand down; as much as she hated this spawn, she couldn't disobey or aggravate Sandaime _or_ Jiraiya. It annoyed and frustrated her to no end, but unless the brat showed clear malicious intent she couldn't keep him from entering. _'Damn stupid laws'_ she thought helplessly, gesturing for both men to enter _'if it wasn't for them…..'_

Jiraiya nodded in satisfaction when he saw both guards - however reluctantly - stand down and stand aside. Pulling his newest idiot pupil with him, he marched to the gates and stepped inside Konoha for the first time in fourteen years.

* * *

He was stubborn as a mule, clever as a monkey, and nimble as a hare. (Louis Pergaud)

* * *

Sarutobi was _not_ having a good day.

He had fallen asleep at the office last night, like he had done many times before, and now he had a crick in his neck from sleeping in an uncomfortable position, and ink on his face from the paperwork he had been reading over before sleep overcame him. His clothes were wrinkled, and his Hokage hat was turned sideways on his head, the thin cloth veil covering his eyes so he couldn't see. His pipe was nowhere to be found, and the ash from its hollow was spread everywhere, making his desk and office a mess.

He groaned slightly as a knock sounded on his door, waking him from his half-dozing state. Glancing sleepily at a nearby clock he nearly cursed when he read the time. Who in their right mind would come up to the Tower at five in the morning?! Rubbing his head in exasperation and weariness Sarutobi gave a quiet call for the person behind his door to enter.

His door exploded open, revealing a grinning white-haired man waving a victory sign and holding a small orange book in one of his hands. The white-haired Hokage gave a small groan as he watched his ex-student Jiraiya enter the room, opening the little orange book and gaining a nose-bleed from the contents in the process.

"Jiraiya," he said wearily, rubbing the part of his cheek where he could feel ink, "what are you doing here? Your last message said you were gathering information by Iwa."

The Sannin grinned mischievously, a look Sarutobi had learned to be suspicious and wary of. "But sensei….." the younger man whined, "I found something interesting!"

The old man's eyes sharpened and he sent his student a curious look, "Interesting?"

Jiraiya nodded then glanced back at the door, huffing slightly and muttering something that sounded like "stupid gaki" underneath his breath. "Oi! Gaki! Get in here!"

"I'm coming ya old pervert….." a young obviously male voice said from behind the closed door. Sarutobi stifled a giggle at the irritable sentence; when was the last time he had called Jiraiya called an 'old pervert' by anyone other than Tsunade? He smiled slightly; he had a feeling he would like this person that Jiraiya brought with him.

The door slammed open (Sarutobi winced slightly; he might have to get his poor door re-hinged from all the abuse it went through) and a boy stepped inside, probably no older than 14 or 15. All the Hokage could see was the traditional Samurai clothing (which he looked at with a raised eyebrow) and shoulder length, shaggy blonde hair covered by the white bandana. He took note of the sword with caution, and eyed the bandaged arms and scrolls dangling on his belt with a barely concealed curiosity. Then the boy lifted his head, and Sarutobi gasped, his eyes widening with surprise and shock.

The boy's shoulder length blonde hair was mostly covered by a dirty white bandana, with only a few thick strands left to fall across his face and the back of his neck. His sharp cerulean eyes were serious, but they had a hint of mischief and childish glee hidden within the blue depths. He had a handsome face with high, prominent cheekbones, a slender nose, and a high forehead which was covered with some strands that had fallen free of his headband. A cocky grin was on his face as he strolled in, showing off larger than normal canines and shiny white teeth. Seeing him, the old Hokage was struck with the memories of the past, where a young man that looked remarkably like this one stood, smiling and laughing at him.

Gaping, he turned to Jiraiya who was watching his astonishment with obvious amusement. The younger (though not by much) man just gave his older sensei a look that obviously said 'told you it'd be good didn't I?' before turning to the young man with _his_ eyes and cuffing him sharply on the back of the head.

"Itaiiiii!!" the boy cried dropping to the ground and clutching at his blonde head, dropping his eyes from Sarutobi. In an instant the boy was up, glaring and pointing an accusing finger at the white-haired Sannin. "You old pervert! What the hell was that for?!"

Jiraiya sent a glare of his own at the blonde and huffed lightly when he saw it went ignored and unnoticed. "What took you so long gaki?"

The blonde boy huffed lightly and sat himself in a nearby chair, crossing his arms over his well-muscled chest. "I was looking around. It's been a long time since I've seen Konoha Ero-Sennin."

Sarutobi felt clarity come upon him when he heard the boy speak. The way this boy carried himself reminded the old Hokage so much of his successor; especially the shaggy blonde hair and cat-like blue eyes. There were hints of Kushina-chan in his face too; the high cheekbones, slightly arched eyebrows…..With his looks and how old he was this boy could most probably be—

"Naruto," Sarutobi breathed out, pipe hanging from his fingertips, forgotten.

The boy-no Naruto, turned to him with a small, genuine smile on his tanned face. "Hey Jiji-sama, long time no see ne?"

Sarutobi felt stunned. This boy, _this boy_, was the son of one of his most beloved friends and his lover; the woman he had cared for and respected the most in the village. Uzumaki Naruto had been like a grandson to him; he had been devastated and shocked when the news of his disappearance was reported by the frail owner of his apartment. He had spent months searching for the 6 year old; sending every spare ANBU and Hunter-nin on wild goose chases to find him. He had finally given up years ago, when no one had seen or heard of the boy and no news of a blonde teenager that looked remarkably like Yondaime Hokage had ever reached their ears.

And now he was here, standing in Sarutobi's office and giving him one of his unique fox-like grins.

Sarutobi chuckled slightly and soon the chuckles turned to full blown laughter, causing his two guests to look at him in confusion. Wiping a stray tear from his eye, the old man sent a kind smile at the person who was like a grandson to him as he said, "Naruto-kun, you are always surprising me."

The young blonde tipped his head in slight confusion before beaming at his surrogate grandfather, happiness at being with a treasured person evident on his face. Jiraiya watched the two happy men for a minute with a strange hint of softness in his dark eyes before rolling said eyes and planting another bop to the gaki's forehead. He hid the smile that threatened to come over his face as said gaki turned to glare up at him, blue eyes annoyed. Seeing his traveling companion just stand there, Naruto huffed and rolled his eyes before turning back to his Hokage.

"Well Jiji-sama……I suppose you want some questions answered no?"

Sarutobi nodded, his shock slowly fading away and clearing his mind. Subconsciously, he started to analyze Naruto's movements and speaking habits. He was quieter than before (but then again……the last time he had seen him when was when he was 6 years old……), and instead of having overly klutzy and slightly awkward movements he had a quiet strength and skill, almost unnoticeable to anyone but the best shinobi. His mannerisms had toned down a bit, and his style of dress was that of a wandering Samurai; loose, unassuming, but helpful to hiding weapons and the feet.

Naruto, either not noticing the man's silent evaluation or ignoring it, started to talk. "Well do you remember the day I went away……?" When Sarutobi nodded he added quietly. "It happened something like this……"

_-Flashback-_

_Uzumaki Naruto, a kid of 6 years old, was currently pondering in a tree._

_Anyone who'd met the boy would instantly be shocked and deny Naruto doing any such thing. That boy? _Think?_ Impossible! But the matter remains that Uzumaki Naruto was sitting in a tree, pondering the events that had overwhelmed his life in the last week. It had all started a few nights ago……_

_He had been heading home, his mind happy and his stomach full from Ramen, when he heard the shout. It didn't particularly bother him; a lot of people were shouting in the village. However, when another shout came, this one much closer to him, he felt fear pierce his heart. Those words……Was it already that time of week?_

_"Get the Demon Kid!"_

_He turned, horrified and more than slightly scared, to see a huge mob of people running at him wearing cruel grins and those cold eyes. He instantly started to run, wondering why the hell he had forgotten to stay inside today, and quickly drawing up memories of the best escape routes to his apartment. None came to mind._

_The mob was quickly gaining in speed, and soon Naruto found himself in a small tucked away alley, backed into a corner with more than 75 cold eyes watching his fear with malicious glee. They had waited so long for this moment. The weekly mob beatings they had issued weren't affecting the demon, but if they could just hit it hard enough maybe it would die and they could live in peace……_

_Two men started forward and held down the small child, ignoring his feeble thrashing and startled curses. Their partners sidled up next to the boy and gave dozens of clean, quick, and hard slaps to every part of the blonde's body. Seeing this, dozens more men and women came up, all trying to beat the most out of the "demon child". Slaps and hard nudges soon turned into violent kicks and hard punches that sent the "demon's spawn" into a whimpering ball, doing his best to protect himself and trying to keep his mind away from the torture being issued to him. _'Think of Ichiraku's' _he told himself, keeping the friendly Ramen stand firmly in mind. _

_The mob was so high from the glee of finally extracting their revenge that they didn't notice the lazy man until last minute. And that was only after he stepped in between the boy and his captors and stared them down. The civilians instantly cowered, not used to such eyes being turned on them. After all, weren't the shinobi (_for that was what this man was; his Headband was visible on his shoulder_) of the village supposed to protect them? Why was he glaring at the, like they were scum on the edge of his sandals? They were doing a good deed! They were ridding the world of another demon!_

_Once the villagers had back off, the man quickly bowed down near the blonde, no evident concern visible in his face. He gently picked up the boy, careful not to jostle the already healing wounds and make him wake up. Once the boy was settled easily into his arms, he sent a glare at the cowering mob before leaping away, heading towards the Forest of Death. He knew who this child was (the looks pointed towards the obvious) and he would be damned if he let those idiots beat this child to death._

_-End Flashback-_

Sarutobi felt rage come over him at the thought of an angry mob descending on his favorite blonde, but quickly squashed it, focusing on more important issues. Nobody from this mob had come forward and reported what they had seen, but Sarutobi wasn't really surprised by that.

"Naruto," he said quietly, "this man, who was he exactly?"

The boy gave him an irritated glare, "I'm getting to that Jiji-sama, be patient already!"

Sarutobi chuckled lightly and waved a hand, urging the boy to continue, and silently pondering the blonde's mysterious savior.

_-Flashback: Two Hours Later-_

_Naruto woke up with a small groan, blurred images swimming around his head as soon as he opened his eyes. He wasn't moving, and he could tell that he was sitting on something rough, most likely tree bark. _

_"You're finally awake brat," said a voice and Naruto turned in alarm, instinctively turning up his arms to protect himself from any future blows._

_When none came, he peeped over the top of his arm, and stared at the stranger in front of him. His vision was finally clearing and although the man's features were slightly blurred, he could make out most of his features pretty well. _

_The guy was tall, handsome, with lazy golden eyes standing out in his thin tanned face. His hair was dark and straight, and pulled back into a tight ponytail at the base of the man's neck. His clothes were black and unassuming, and he had a Konoha Headband tied around his left forearm._

_"W-who……are you? Why d-did you bring me here?" Naruto asked, his voice trembling slightly as he tried to find his way to his feet. If this guy came out here to kill him, he wouldn't go down on his butt! _

_The man's irritation seemed to vanish and was replaced by a lazily amused attitude. "My name's Raiden kid and I brought you here to talk."_

_Raiden watched with amusement and slight surprise as the kid's terror practically disappeared and was replaced with an analytical look that he had never seen on such a young brat's face. Serious blue eyes were staring at him, and had he been a lesser man he might have fidgeted. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the cunning disappeared leaving a smiling and hyper blonde boy behind._

_"What did ya wanna talk 'bout Onii-san?" the boy asked, bouncing over to him._

_Raiden raised an eyebrow lazily, hiding his surprise that the boy had recovered so quickly from the numerous injuries he had received from the mob beating. Only two hours later, and he was already bouncing around like it was nothing……! There was no sign of mental trauma either, or any tears………He sighed as he realized that Minato's plans for Naruto to be a hero must not have worked at all if the brat was used to mob beatings. He decided to get straight to the point. _

_"Boy," he said slowly, "do you have anything in this village that ties you to it?"_

_Naruto stopped mid-bounce and gave the man a shocked look. Raiden motioned impatiently for him to answer, so the little blonde considered the question before answering, "Well……Jiji-sama is nice to me, getting Ramen for me all the time and paying for my apartment but……people are always insulting him for helping me. I am a burden to him," he stopped for a minute and then looked up at Raiden. "So, no I guess."_

_Raiden nodded and said, "Would you like to leave the village with me?"_

_Blink. Blink._

_"NANI?!" _

_Raiden grimaced and rubbed one of his ears; the boy yelled too loud damnit! Just like that baka best friend of his. Of course Kushina had been loud too……he shook away the memories and looked down at the boy irritably._

_"I'd. Like. You. To. Travel. With. Me," he said through gritted teeth, his golden eyes annoyed._

_The boy flinched and Raiden's temper vanished. He had forgotten that Naruto had, more than likely gotten beaten weekly or even daily, if that show today was any indication (_the boy hadn't fought back, had let them hurt him, and had taken their insults……_) and showing anger in front of him was probably not the best way to earn his trust. He sighed; damnit getting this boy to trust him was going to require __work__, and he would need the boy's trust if he was going to get the brat to travel with him. Raiden nearly whined; he hated work in all shapes, sizes, and forms; it nearly made him wonder if offering this opportunity to the brat was worth all the effort. He stared down at the blonde head and sighed; even if he had wanted to, he knew that giving the kid up now was not an option. Naruto would be stifled in this village, his talent which was so obvious to Raiden would be ignored by the prejudiced teachers at the Academy. He couldn't allow that to happen to Minato's son and he was already regretting not coming back to the village earlier._

_Naruto stared at the ground, contemplating the fact that this strange man with unique eyes had saved him just so that they could travel together. However, even in his hyper six-year old mind, the little blonde realized that something was very wrong with this picture. Hesitantly he looked up, hoping that Rai-nii-san wouldn't be angry at him anymore._

_He blinked as he came face to face with soft gold eyes. The man ruffled his hair softly and then stepped back, his lazy attitude once again flashing across his face. 'Well' Naruto thought stupidly 'I guess he's not mad anymore.'_

_"Why……me?" the boy asked, staring up at the man's face._

_Raiden seemed to consider it for a bit and he decided there was no use lying to the kid, "Your father and mother were good friends of mine, and I don't want anything bad to happen to their kid. Plus you have talent, and if I get an apprentice, than maybe Hisoka will stop nagging at me."_

_Naruto's eyes widened when he heard that this man had known his parent's, beamed when Rai-nii-san said he had talent, and then said, "I'll go with you!"_

_-End Flashback-_

Sarutobi stared at the boy, his eyes wide with shock. "Did you say _Raiden_?" he asked, completely bewildered.

Tanaka Raiden was one of his best Jounin; but he was lazy as hell and often away on long term assignments. The only people Sarutobi had ever seen the man associate with were Uchiha Itachi, Hatake Kakashi, and his weird wandering samurai friend Ryuu Hisoka. He had also been Yondaime's personal bodyguard and best friend. He chuckled slightly; now he knew who the mysterious apprentice was that Raiden had been bragging about for the last eight years. Though it seemed strange that Raiden had never taken the time to tell Sarutobi he'd had Naruto all this time. He would have to ask him about that.

"Oh and by the way old man……" Sarutobi shrunk in his seat as he was distinctly reminded of Kushina. "Did you ever think to tell me about my parents?"

Sarutobi resisted the urge to fidget in his seat; Naruto's stern gaze reminded him way too much of _his_. It was both stunning and ironic how much the "village demon" looked like his father. Minato had always managed to make Sarutobi feel like a child who had messed up when he was angry or stern; it was a gift that very few people knew about (Sarutobi had managed _that_. He didn't want people to know that Minato could give a good tongue trashing to his elder and get away without punishment).

"I didn't wish for you to be targeted by your father's enemies," Sarutobi explained gently, ignoring Jiraiya who was looking increasingly confused. "I couldn't trust you to keep it to yourself if someone provoked you badly enough."

Naruto's eyes softened slightly and he sighed, "I grew up much faster than the rest of the children here Jiji-sama," he explained quietly, "and my dearest wish was to know who my parents were. I'm angry that you took that away from me, but I can understand why."

"Sarutobi-sensei," Jiraiya cut in as the two men looked at each other silently, "what are you two going on about?"

Sarutobi turned to his student with a look of astonishment on his face, "You're telling me you took this boy here without knowing who he was?"

The Sannin shrugged nonchalantly, "I knew he was the brat you had been moaning about for the last few years, and I was heading this way anyway so I decided to escort him. But what are you two talking about with his parents……?"

Sarutobi and Naruto looked at each other, silently having a conversation about whether to reveal this information to Jiraiya or not. When Naruto nodded, Sarutobi waved a hand for him to explain it to the Toad Sannin.

"My father was Namikaze Minato, also known as Yondaime Hokage," Naruto said quietly, "and my mother was his private lover, Uzumaki Kushina, a foreign shinobi from the former Uzu no Kuni."

Jiraiya's jaw dropped and he openly gaped at the boy. _'What the hell is this boy implying-?!'_ he thought, his shock quickly being replaced with anger and righteous disbelief, "Boy, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but there's no way you're Minato's son. He was good friends with Uzumaki Kushina sure, but he would have told me if she was pregnant, or someone would have noticed it. How dare you--"

He stopped when he caught sight of Naruto's glare, "Ero-Sennin; my name is Uzumaki Naruto, and my mother is Uzumaki Kushina. I have no idea why Tou-san kept their relationship secret, especially from his friends and family but he is my father."

Jiraiya stared at him for a moment, swallowing in the fact that this boy who he had taken an interest in (_so much like his previous student, it was startling. Now he knew why_) for the past couple of weeks was claiming to be the son of his only apprentice and his previously unknown lover. Then he glared his fury and frustration mounting; why would Minato keep it from _him_ if he had a lover, especially Kushina?

"I took a blood test," Naruto's voice interrupted the Sannin's thoughts, making Jiraiya turn to him in disbelief. "I had a medic look at it, and I looked at it myself. It states clearly that my parents were Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina."

Sarutobi was the one gaping in belief this time. He knew of blood tests; orphans all over the Countries took them to determine who their parent's were and if they had any living family left to contact. It took a skilled medic-nin to do the Jutsu however, and he was curious who had done it for Naruto.

Jiraiya held out his hand, and Naruto sighed slightly before taking out one of the scrolls that were hanging around his waist. He tossed it over to Jiraiya, who caught it and immediately pried it open, eyes quickly scanning the contents. The old man gasped and the scroll fell from his limp hands.

In big, loopy letters it stated: _Uzumaki Naruto, Father: Namikaze Minato (deceased at age 25), Mother: Uzumaki Kushina (deceased at age 27)_. There was a complete family tree of both the Namikaze's and Uzumaki's below both Naruto's parent's names.

"You……Sweet Kami……" Jiraiya stuttered, at a complete loss for words. If anything was known about blood tests, it was that if they were completed they were completely accurate and impossible to forge or change in any way. And……That meant……

There was something left of the student he had loved and lost.

Jiraiya passed a weary hand over his face before glaring half-heartedly at the blonde brat through his fingers, "And you didn't tell me this when we first met because……"

Naruto's face was the perfect mask of innocence (_if it was not for the small twinkle in his eyes, people would completely believe it_) as he pouted at his companion, "Because you never asked?"

Even when it was hidden behind his rather large hand, anyone could see Jiraiya's temple throb with annoyance. Slowly, he lifted his hand away from his face and sent an irritated glare at a certain innocent looking blonde. Stalking over to said boy, he glared down at him before calmly and firmly giving him a hard bop to the head.

Naruto went down like a rock.

"Itaiiiii! Why is always meeee?!" the young boy wailed, clutching at the bump on his head while sprawled over the floor.

Sarutobi watched the two in amusement and with a hint of tenderness. It was good to see Jiraiya behave like he had 14 years ago, before Minato's death. The few times he had met with him after the Kyuubi attack, the Sannin had been cold, precise, and business-like; the complete opposite of his usual informal, humorous reports. He stifled a laugh as he watched Naruto climb back to his feet and enter a glaring contest with his former student. Both of the younger men were making numerous faces at each other; if it wasn't for his reputation as the Hokage, Sarutobi might have dropped to the floor and started laughing his a—hem _butt_ off. He let it continue for a while, drawing amusement from their childish play, before he cleared his throat, reminding them of his presence. They both reluctantly drew out of the fight, eyes promising that _sooner or later_ they would have a re-match.

"Hem—so sorry, excuse me; I must be getting some sort of cough," Sarutobi grinned when Naruto rolled his eyes, obviously not drawn in by his fib. "More importantly; Naruto, why are you here now, and where is Raiden?"

"Rai-nii-san said to go without him. He'll probably be here later, maybe in three days or so. Anyhow, the reason I came back was to ask if I could join the Genin Exams this year to become a Konoha Shinobi."

Sarutobi rolled the idea over in his head. On one hand; Iruka had been saying that they needed another graduate for this year's batch of Genins as they were just one short. Naruto had been at least partially trained by Raiden (hopefully) so he might be able to qualify. However there was also the risk of ruining the team setups now with a wild card graduate, and the risk of Naruto's identity as a Hokage's son being discovered. Chewing on the base of his pipe, Sarutobi thought about it a few minutes more and then giving a shrug. _'What the hell; why not let the brat try out.'_

"All right Naruto, I'll write an explanation to Iruka-kun about your arrival. You're lucky – the Genin Exams are today and they don't start until Noon. You'll have quite a bit of time to get re-acquainted with the village," he peered out of his large windows and winced when he saw the still dark skies of Konoha. _'Kami-sama is it_ that _early?'_

"Ah Sarutobi-sensei, I was wondering about that," Jiraiya interrupted. "Is this gaki going to be put with 12 year olds? No matter how bad he is, he'd outstrip the shrimps by miles by physical training."

Sarutobi smiled wearily, "Since we are living in a time of peace Jiraiya, the council has decided that Academy training will be longer. The students now wait until they are 14 to graduate. This year's graduates are the second to take this extended route."

The Sannin stilled at that before sputtering in outrage, "T-that's ridiculous! To wait so long before giving the kiddies proper training is suicidal! By the time they're 14 they could be Chuunins or even Jounins, instead of just graduating! What the hell is that idiotic council thinking?!"

"They are thinking that this is peace and war is a far off time. They apparently want to keep the children as innocent as possible for as long as they can," Sarutobi stated sadly, puffing on his pipe.

"How stupid," both men turned to look at Naruto, whose eyes were suddenly cold. "Those children chose to be Ninja, not some school-kids playing at a dangerous job. If they don't get the seriousness of this duty into their heads at an early age, none of them will live past their 20's. Your supposedly kind council is just signing their death wishes."

Sarutobi sighed slightly; it hadn't taken him long to see the reasoning of such a way of thinking, but the Hokage couldn't pull an order from the Council if the majority voted in it. It was one of the lesser quirks (ones that included paperwork) of being who he was. It surprised him, however at how quickly Naruto had seen the dangers of the Council's actions, and how cold his tone and eyes were. Quickly he sent a questioning look at Jiraiya, but the man just shook his head, obviously puzzled. Sarutobi eyed the bowed blonde head before him while thinking _'did something happen to him while he was with Raiden……?'_

"Well, anyways, please enjoy yourselves. Naruto you'll have to report to Classroom 5 at Noon; give this to the brown haired man there," Sarutobi instructed, giving Naruto a slip of paper. "His name is Umino Iruka-kun, and he is the sensei of the class."

Naruto nodded and accepted the slip of paper, slipping it into one of the pouches at his waist, "I'll be sure to do that Jiji-sama. Ready to go Ero-Sennin, or do you need to give that info to him first?" the boy asked, turning to the white haired man.

Jiraiya smiled slightly and shook his head, "I need to get some sleep before I report in. I feel sorry for that mentor of yours," he groused, "having an apprentice that wakes up so early in the morning must be such a pain for a lazy man," ignoring the sputtering of his companion, the Sannin turned to his ex-sensei and raised an eyebrow. "Sarutobi-sensei, I'll report back after Noon. Is that alright with you?"

Sarutobi nodded and waved a hand at them in obvious dismissal. He watched with a smile as the two left the room, bickering and bantering the entire way out. Silently the old man rose to his feet and turned to stare out his wide windows, thinking heavily about the new developments that had occurred in the last hour. But there was one thing he knew for certain.

This village would no longer be boring, with Uzumaki Naruto among them.

* * *

We're not lost. We're locationally challenged. (John M. Ford)

* * *

Naruto bounced as he walked, enjoying the feeling of not having to watch his back every second because people were coming after him. For some reason everyone always happened to be after him (Naruto had said it was because of his charm. Rai-nii-san had said it was because no one could stand his idiocy and wanted to kill him as soon possible), so he had learned early on to watch his back. But in this village there were already people watching the streets (not that he'd rely on them. After all, Naruto knew how easy it was to sneak in and out of the village firsthand), so he could release some of the caution that had been installed in his brain since he was born.

It was around 9 o'clock now, and Ero-Sennin had left to go gather his "research" (note: look and drool at pretty girls at the onsen like the pervert he is), so that left Naruto with time to waste and nothing to do. So he had decided to go shopping.

Now no self-respecting man would admit to wanting to shop, and Naruto was one of the manliest men anyone could have ever met (or so he told himself), but he needed some new clothes. Not that his Hakama and Haori were too bad too wear, but they were smelly and worn and pretty much the only clothes he had. Plus, the wide legs of his Hakama, while being great for a traveling Samurai, were useless for a Ninja. He'd need something sleeker and much easier to travel in, especially in the forests that Fire Country seemed to favor.

So, since he was in a Ninja village, he decided to go shopping for clothes. Which led to his current dilemma; where exactly _were_ the clothing shops around here? Naruto could see plenty for civilians (there were almost too many, actually) but none seemed to hold any Shinobi clothes or the fighting accessories that they'd need. Of course, the blonde teenager could see the wisdom of hiding their shops; disguised enemies could easily enter them and find out all they wanted to know about Konoha equipment. But shouldn't the Ninja of the Village be able to find them?!

Annoyed, Naruto continued to search.

_'Civilian store, civilian store, kid's store, flower shop……How many shops do they have around here?!'_ he thought after a few hours of wandering around mindlessly. Left eye twitching, he carefully drew in a few deep breathes, trying to keep himself from blowing up everything he could see. After all, that wouldn't be a very good way of re-introducing himself to the village now would it?

Naruto sighed and turned to a small shore advertising 10 percent off all goods inside. He, like his mentor, was very cheap and wanted to spend as little money as possible. Since he couldn't find any shinobi stores he'd ask for directions or deal with civilian clothes until Raiden got off his lazy ass to show him around. Naruto entered the small shop blinked when he saw that most of the clothes were gone. Sighing he walked up to the counter and rang the small silver bell, waiting for an employee to come out to help him.

A young man with dark hair and brown eyes came in from the back of the shop and greeted Naruto with a friendly smile, "What can I do for you today Samurai-san?"

Naruto blinked and looked down at himself, wondering if he really looked like a Samurai. Mentally shrugging he answered, "I'm new here and I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of a store with shinobi clothing. I'm afraid these just won't cut it," he added, picking at his white Haori.

The man smiled slightly and said, "Well you seem to have a lot of luck sir, as this is a store for Ninja folk. The manager put up a few civilian clothes up in the front and the back," he pointed to the door he had come out of, "has any and all shinobi clothing you could want. Would you follow me sir?"

Naruto nodded, happy that he seemed to have found his place and wouldn't need to wander all over town anymore. He followed the employee to the back and gaped at the huge room that was filled with all types and colors of sturdy, Ninja clothes. He grinned at the employee and waved him off before wandering into the racks of clothes and searching for his new outfit.

He really wasn't that picky when it came to clothes, and the only thing he required was something darker colored. He grabbed a pile of cargo pants that had tons of pockets both visible and hidden and went down to his feet, in all sorts of dark colors, especially dark gray and green which were good for missions in Konoha. He also spotted some sleeveless, skin-tight shirts and grabbed a handful, testing out the fabric. They stretched easily and Naruto grinned, grabbing a few more.

Naruto headed over the coat section, dragging his already large pile of clothes behind him and intently searched for styles. He grinned when he saw one that he liked and quickly tried it on. It buttoned down to his waist with small-ish buttons and was left to flare about his legs. Its hems reached to a little below his knees, and the sleeves were so long they covered all but the tips of his fingers. Nodding, he shrugged off the one he had tried on and grabbed a couple more in the same style, only with different colors. One was white on the outside and black inside, for easy switching, a fading gray, and a deep forest green. The last he picked out was a dark crimson red that he would wear when he wasn't on missions.

He headed to the shoe section and scrunched his nose at the collection of shinobi sandals the store seemed to have. He had never liked those shoes – they seemed too uncomfortable to him. Naruto quickly hunted through the aisles and grinned when he came across a small section of combat boots. He grabbed two pairs of black leather knee length boots that were tied onto the side by square silver buckles. He was delighted to find that they had a catch for a dagger in the heel and a hidden slot for a knife or kunai to slide into on the side.

Finally he grabbed some cream and white bandages (he had been running out), and a variety of bandanas to cover his bright hair. He also spotted some elbow length, steel backed fingerless gloves that he instantly liked and brought to his pile on the spot. Satisfied he stared down at his large pile, and was glad that he had saved up a lot of money over the years. This was going to cost him a lot.

The cashier looked surprised at Naruto's large bundle when he brought it to the desk, and even more surprised when the blonde even had enough money for the entire thing. Quickly Naruto asked about a Weapons shop and, after getting directions to one, left the store, two huge bags slung over his shoulder. He hurriedly made his way to the hotel room Jiraiya had rented for them when the hotels had opened and shucked his samurai clothing, bundling it into a ball and throwing it in the corner of the room.

Hurriedly he changed into his black cargo pants and shirt, pulling his dark red trench coat, black gloves, boots, and a black bandana on as well. He secured a kunai pouch to his left thigh and his sword against his back before quickly making his way out of the apartment. He would have to run for it; it was nearly noon and he still had no idea where the Academy was!

* * *

Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out. (Michael Burke)

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was not having a good day.

First of all, her favorite purple outfit was _dirty_, which meant she had to wear the less seductive black outfit the she only wore during training. Added to the fact that she had somehow managed to meet up with Forehead-chan, and was currently getting hot, dirty, and dusty while participating in the silently challenged footrace, and the blonde was starting to curse the fact that she even got out of bed.

It very nearly made her want to cry, in fact. Today was her _Genin Exam_, one of the most important days in her entire teenaged life! She was supposed to be glowing, to be sparkling, to be _wearing purple_. _Not_ getting dust and grime over her already second-rate black dress in a stupid footrace with Haruno Sakura!

Growling under her breath, Ino shoved at her pink haired partner viciously, smiling when she heard the slight wheeze of pain. She knew it was wrong to take out her anger on Sakura, but right now she was hot, dirty, and tired so she just _didn't care_. She nearly collapsed in relief when the Academy came into her sight. _'Shade, shade, sweet, sweet shade……'_ she thought giddily, speeding up even more in her hurry to get to the wonderful shade of her school.

"Shit!" a call came from her right, making Ino's head turn sharply to the left. Her eyes widened in horror as she saw a red and black blur coming at her, too fast to dodge. "Watch out lady!"

Too late, Ino realized she had to get out of the way. By the time she had started to move, the bundle had already crashed into her, sending both of them tumbling to the ground in a heap of tangled arms and legs. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, blocking out the pain in her back as she had been taught to do, before carefully cracking an eye open to see her assailant. Letting out a groan as she saw nothing but red, black, and blonde, Ino carefully squirmed underneath the person, signaling them to get off of her.

The person seemed to get it, and carefully they got up, muttering, "Shit, shit, shitty shit, shit, shit," under their breath.

Relieved to be able to breathe again (that person was _heavy_) Ino scrambled to her feet and dusted herself off, wincing at the new tears and marks on her dress. She glared at the currently unharmed Sakura; _of course_ the pinky would be unharmed, because nothing ever seemed to happen to poor little Sakura……Her ire rising dangerously, Ino turned to where she still felt the presence of her perpetrator, ready to give them a sound piece of her mind for squashing her like that.

And then she blinked.

She had been expecting a guy in his older teens or adulthood, a civilian maybe or an extremely clumsy shinobi to have knocked into her. Not a guy who looked to be around her age, with shaggy blonde hair falling out of his black bandana, a long dark red trench coat and baggy black cargo pants. At least she had been right on one part; the Katana on the guy's back and the Kunai bag around his thigh pointedly told of his Shinobi training.

The guy rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture, grinning at her with a slanted-eyed smile that reminded Ino oddly of a fox before saying, "Gomen. I was hurrying, and lost in thought, so I suppose I wasn't really watching where I was going……You're not hurt are you?" at the last question the boy opened his eyes to reveal deep blue irises. Ino shook her head silently, still slightly shocked that she had been knocked down by a boy who could probably rival Sasuke and Shikamaru in sexiness.

"Aa. Alright then," the boy looked her up and down before nodding to himself reassuringly, as if to convince himself thoroughly that she was unharmed. He perked up as he took in her Ninja attire and asked quickly, "Are you a Shinobi?"

Ino shrugged modestly, "Not technically I suppose. I'm still in the Academy, although I'm taking the Genin Exams today."

"Do you think you could show me the way to the Academy?" the boy asked. "I'm new in Konoha, and Ero-Sennin disappeared before giving me directions."

Ino could see the pout starting to form on the boy's face, as well as the widening of the deep blue eyes that were starting to film over with unshed tears. She nearly groaned; she recognized this! She used the 'Ultimate Puppy Dog Eye no Jutsu' every time she wanted to buy something and needed money from her parents.

Groaning Ino nodded at the boy, getting a large, beaming smile in return. The boy's "kicked puppy" look has disappeared, leaving him looking hyper and happy.

"Yatta! I _told_ Ero-Sennin someone would show me the way there! Stupid old pervert, saying everyone would avoid me because of my stupidity……" he muttered the last bit under his breath, making Ino sweatdrop. "Anyhow, my name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"I'm Yamanaka Ino," she replied, smiling a bit at him, "and this forehead with a body is Haruno Sakura."

Naruto spared her a glance, blue eyes narrowing with both confusion and annoyance as he saw the pink-haired girl's glare. Ino gave Sakura a curious look; why was she looking at Naruto like she was the dust on the edge of her sandals? They had just met, and he hadn't done anything bad, just accidentally knocked into Ino. And Sakura wasn't close enough to her to be upset about that……

"And _why_ would _you_ need to go to Academy?" Sakura asked icily, sticking her nose into the air haughtily. Ino gaped at her snobbishness before turning to Naruto, fully intending to apologize for her rival's behavior. She stopped dead when she was met with narrow, cold blue eyes, even though they weren't directed at her. Even an Uchiha's glare wasn't that deadly, and that was saying something.

"Because I'm gonna take the Genin Exam today Haruno," he replied tightly, and then noticeably reigned control over his death glare, giving a falsely easy smile.

Sakura looked surprised, then annoyed, and then smug, "You're lying. You can't take the Genin Exam; you need to actually _train_ in the _Academy _first."

Naruto scoffed at her, making Sakura glare at him with angry green eyes, "I suppose you read that somewhere in a book Haruno? It doesn't matter where the person's gotten the training, so long as they've got it. Just because I haven't trained in your precious _Academy_ doesn't mean _you're_ a better Ninja than _me_."

Ino suddenly had a moment of insight. Sakura was treating Naruto this way because she thought he was some vagabond Ninja and hadn't gotten a 'proper' Shinobi training? Was she really that shallow? Some part of Ino acknowledged that her ex-friend could easily be that shallow, given the chance. But it seemed strange that she would instantly dislike Naruto because he hadn't gone to the Academy with them, yet was taking the Genin Exam anyway.

"But can we _please_ go now? I don't know about you ladies, but I'm not particularly fond of being late for important exams," Naruto's voice pulled Ino out of her musings.

She looked up to see Sakura glancing at him with her haughty air back up, but the pink-haired girl nodded, before rushing down the street, leaving them behind in the dust. Ino scowled; how perfectly _Sakura_. When she glanced at her fellow blonde, she noticed Naruto was staring at the disappearing back of Sakura thoughtfully, frowning slightly. When he noticed eyes upon him, he turned to her and smiled.

"Shall we go then?" he asked, gesturing in the direction Sakura had hurried off in.

Ino nodded hesitantly and started to walk down the path, Naruto at her side. Slowly she put the Shinobi aspects of her personality to use and started to analyze the conversation she had just been a part of. Sakura had been unusually bitchy to Naruto; but then, she had discovered a possible reason for that a few minutes earlier. It didn't really explain why she hated him at first sight, but it did explain why her snobbishness escalated in Naruto's presence. This Naruto character on the other hand………she didn't know what to make of him. He didn't seem to get along with Sakura, which made him, okay in her books, but he was stranger with no past nonetheless………

"Ino-chan?" Naruto's voice once again pulled her out of her musings. "You alright?"

She blinked, and then realized she must have zoned out for a few minutes while she had been thinking, "Yeah," she managed to say, laughing dryly, "I think I'm just nervous for the Exam."

"Don't be," Naruto told her quietly, turning to give her a sly looking smile that made her slightly suspicious. "_These_ tests aren't that hard."

Trained as she was, Ino had noticed the stress on the word 'these', as well as the look Naruto had given her with the last sentence. Was he trying to tell her something? What exactly? What did he mean _these_ tests weren't that hard? Was there more than one test? Another one after the Exam maybe?

With questions racing through her brain at light-speed, Ino didn't notice they had walked inside the Academy until Naruto gave her light shove from behind. Shaking her head and heading for Iruka-sensei's classroom, she stored her thoughts and questions deep into her mind for later examination. After all, she couldn't be distracted during the Exam!

* * *

The first impression is an important thing. Nobody ever forgets it, even after the second, third, and fourth impressions. (Unknown)

* * *

Naruto chuckled under her breath as he watched Ino square her shoulders and thrust out her chin defiantly; looking like the stubborn woman he knew she was.

He knew it wasn't that great of an idea to give out hints about the team tests right before the Exam, when Ino was _already_ nervous, but he wasn't sure if he would be able to see her later. She was nice, and he could see good emotions rolling off of her when she talked, telling of her innocent intentions. Her aura was a mixture of will-power, determination, and strength of heart, showing good Kunoichi material. If anything, Ino was friendship material, and he wouldn't allow anyone close to becoming his friend fail the team exam because they were surprised by it. Rules about keeping the information to himself never meant anything to him – Naruto made a habit to break as many rules as possible.

He followed his female companion quietly, trying to quell _his_ nervousness. He was good with people, especially those around his own age, but he was going to see some of his playmates-that-weren't, and it was something he hadn't been really looking forward too. He'd already met two of them, and it had quickly turned into a disaster.

He had recognized Ino right away. He hadn't actively bothered her out to play (girls were still icky back then) but she had rampaged into him one day and demanded he play a game of 'The Ninja and the Princess' with her. Not being one to refuse company (even if it did come in the form of a bossy five year old girl) he had accepted, becoming a Ninja to rescue Princess Ino from where she had been kidnapped. He'd had fun with her until her parent's had discovered them playing and taken her away. He didn't play with Ino again after that.

But Sakura-! Naruto frowned as he delved into his memory. Sakura had been a sweet-tempered, mild little girl until she had reached her fifth birthday and met Ino, who had given her confidence. She had ignored him before that, but during his last year at Konoha……she'd been a bitch, to put it bluntly. And with her current attitude at him, Naruto was willing to bet that hadn't changed.

But her soul was myriad of soft, healing colors and fiery spirit. She'd be one hell of a woman when she got off of her high horse and learned that being a Shinobi was serious job, not just book smarts. Her brain might be a help before the battle, but in the war-field, she'd need serious training before she could hope to come out alive. Training she obviously didn't have, if her power level was anything to go by.

Naruto was startled out of his musings when he bumped into Ino's back. Peering around the girl he saw a sign hanging over the door they were standing in front of saying 'Classroom 5'. Obviously, they had arrived. Ignoring Ino's sudden nervousness he gestured at her to open the door. Her irritation flaring at him made him smile, but she did as he asked, hesitantly opening the door and stepping inside. Naruto followed quietly.

_Damn_ the place was loud.

He was startled to notice the muddle of screaming banshees (that other people would see as human teenage girls) were clawing at each other, doing their best to tear each other's throats out. Naruto shuddered lightly, reminding himself to avoid these girls _for all eternity_. Their bloodlust was really unnerving.

He eyed the mob carefully as he slipped around them and slid into one of the few empty seats open, oblivious to the fact that he had just taken the very thing the bansh—_girls_ were screaming at each other for. The chair next to Uchiha Sasuke.

Said boy was currently wondering if this kid was stupid, had a death wish, or was possibly insane. Everyone who attended Classroom 5 with Uchiha Sasuke (especially the boys) knew the rules and followed them religiously. They were as follows:

1._ Never_ deal with USRFA (Uchiha Sasuke's Rabid Fan Association) or get between them and Sasuke. This will mean instant, painful death.

2. _Never_ take the seat next to Uchiha Sasuke if you value your life, sanity, ears, or precious body _items_ in general.

Not only had this blonde dope (who was he anyways?) broken the second rule, he'd also shattered the first one as well. Smirking lightly, Sasuke leaned back in his chair and waited for the USRFA to notice the intrusion.

Naruto, on the other hand, was studying the boy next to him out of the corner of his eye with a curious and slightly wary look.

His hair was black, almost darker than Rai-nii-san's, and his eyes seemed to blend into his pupils. The hair style was little unusual, and oddly reminded him of a duck's butt. Struggling to hold in the laughter that that image provided, Naruto roved his eyes down the boy's body, nodding to himself when he noticed well toned muscles and hidden weapons. At least _one_ of the kiddies in here was actually taking this job seriously. The boy's clothes were fairly basic; black, unrestricting, and bland; standard Jounin wear actually. He raised an eyebrow at the only extravagant clothing the boy wore; a long, sleeveless black coat that fell to the middle of the boy's calves **(1)**. What was with there being the word 'Avenger' stenciled into the back in bright crimson red? But wait – Naruto peered closer – was that an _Uchiha_ symbol above it?

Naruto silently sighed to himself; of _course_ it would be his luck to sit next to the only Uchiha in the room. Then an idea came onto him and his eyebrow propped up as he considered the mob of screaming banshees. Slowly understanding dawned on his face and he turned to face the front slowly. That poor, poor boy. The banshees probably did this everyday.

Sasuke noticed the new guy's staring and sudden revelation that the screaming girls were his fangirls (he cringed; kami he hated how that sounded) and most likely realized that they wanted the seat the blonde was sitting in. He smirked outwardly, while inwardly pleading for the stupid, mentally insane boy to _not leave him alone_. The _fangirls_ would jump him as soon as he was by himself again.

Naruto grinned when he caught a wave of desperation in the Uchiha's aura. He knew how the boy felt; he'd been chased by fangirls a couple of times when traveling with Rai-nii-san (who'd found it uproariously funny the bastard), and they had scared the crap out of him with their aggressive chasing. So instead of doing when a normal person would do in this situation (note: running to the hills in terror) he tipped his chair back casually and plastered a completely bored look onto his face. He smiled when he felt relief flare in Uchiha's aura.

Looking from under his lashes he considered the boy's glow, wondering about a few things in it. Naruto had had the ability to see auras for as long as he could remember; reading the colors around people, their "aura" so to speak. He had studied the four levels (Core, Physical, Mental/Emotional, and Power Level) so much that he knew them for memory now, and could easily read them like a book. It wasn't mind reading; he was reading the emotions and the intentions of the person he was looking at; their personality so to speak.

The four levels of a soul were fairly simple. The core would be with them until they died, only changing during major life events that affected the person's entire way of thinking (i.e. a loved one's death, betrayal by everyone you love, ect). It was a ball of glowing energy, often with a variety of colors that sat just at the bottom of the rib-cage. The Physical level was a small, glowy aura around the core, only changing when the physical conditions did. The mental/emotional level was constantly changing, and spread around the Core and Physical level for a meter and a half or so. It shifted with every mood, spouted every intention clearly, mostly in the form of colors. And finally the power level told of a person's power in the Ninja Arts; the lighter they were, the more skilled. This one surrounded the person's entire body.

Rai-nii-san had said that seeing auras was something like an Uzumaki bloodline. Most Uzumaki's had been Trackers with it; they could remember every Aura they had seen and easily find it within a decent distance. A person also couldn't mask their Aura, which made it easy for an Uzumaki to find them even if they were suppressing their Chakra or hiding under a Genjutsu. Since it was a bloodline from Uzu no Kuni, his mother's homeland which was now deserted and forgotten, not many people knew about it.

Naruto frowned as he stared at the Uchiha's aura, noticed the dark, heavy black-red cloud hanging over the previously royal blue, white, and purple core. Black symbolized death, darkness, and vengeance most of the time………and that heavy color of dried blood was a color normally seen for those out for revenge. _'That would explain the whole Avenger thing'_ Naruto thought thoughtfully. He was thrown out of his thoughts when the person next to him cleared his throat quietly, before shaking his head and smiling, holding out a hand.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Nice fangirls you have there Uchiha," he said.

Sasuke stared at the offered hand before taking it and giving a soft shake and quickly letting go. He took in Naruto's tied back blonde hair, bright blue eyes, whisker marks, and red trench coat with thoughtful eyes.

"Hn Uzumaki," he answered, turning back to face the front, although he continued to study Naruto out of the corner of his eye. "Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto noticed the curious appraisal and grinned lightly. He remembered hearing something about an Uchiha Sasuke from Rai-nii-san and Itachi-sensei, though. Didn't Itachi-sensei say Sasuke was his little brother? He wondered at that; while the two looked a lot alike, their difference in skill was obvious, even if he wasn't able to see auras. Itachi-sensei's power level was a white-yellow color, so light it looked like pure white, while Sasuke's was a darker silvery gray. It didn't really make sense that this guy would be so much weaker than his older brother; didn't Itachi-sensei train him? Sighing, he decided to find out where the Uchiha estates were in Konoha so he could visit the older Uchiha and find out all the facts for himself. That decided, Naruto returned from his thoughts only to find a medium wave of killer intent focused at him. Slowly he turned around and winced.

So the banshees had finally noticed.

Instead of trying to kill each other like they had been doing previously, the mob stood together in a huddle, arms crossed and death glares fixed on their faces. Inwardly laughing at how possessive these girls were, he raised an eyebrow, making even more killer intent appear. The boys of Classroom 5, who had noticed the confrontation, were impressed with the blonde's show of bravery; most people would have wet their pants at the looks those bansh—_girls _were giving off.

When the girl's neither said anything nor stopped glaring, Naruto sighed and snapped, "_What_?!"

Screaming Banshee Number One, Haruno Sakura, stepped forward as the spokesperson for USRFA.

"Get out of that seat baka! Can't you see Sasuke-kun doesn't want to sit next to you, and would rather have one of us with him instead?!" she gestured at the huddle behind her.

With a mischievous look on his face that gave many of the USRFA some second thoughts about the confrontation, Naruto turned to Sasuke and asked, "Yo teme," many of the girls twitched at the disrespectful name, "would you rather have me, or one of the herd of screaming banshees sit here?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Naruto grinned as a tint of amused yellow floated over the Uchiha's aura. He gestured at Naruto saying, "You'll suffice dobe. I think I'll need my ears by the end of today."

A few of the girls (including Sakura and Ino, who stood behind her ex-best friend) sputtered at the last comment. Naruto nodded, mockingly-serious, before turning back to the huddle with a smug, fox-like smirk on his face.

"Well you heard him ladies. I wish you luck on finding the other available seats in the room."

Then Naruto turned back to the front, ignoring the disgruntled murmuring and angry stares of the rapidly disappearing mob. Sasuke's respect for the blonde jumped a bit; he knew how hard it was to remain aloof and nonchalant with those kinds of stares boring into the back of your head. Eventually all of the banshees were gone, except for the Numero Uno, who slid into the empty seat on the right of Naruto, glaring at the blonde as she did so. But before the pinky could extract her revenge, the door opened to reveal what could only be their missing teacher.

Naruto eyed him with interest. So this was Umino Iruka-kun? With the plain dark topknot and brown eyes, the man didn't stand out that much. The only unusual thing about him was the thick scar covering the bridge of his nose. But Naruto was on his guard all the same; this man's power level was colored a delicate light blue, which meant he was more powerful than his station as a teacher implied.

Quickly and gracefully Naruto slipped out of his seat, sending a look towards Sasuke that said plainly 'save my seat if you value your ears _at all_.' Shuddering slight Sasuke agreed with a nod and sent a glare towards Sakura, who had been getting up to move with a smile on her face. She instantly froze, smile slipping, before sinking back into her chair.

Meanwhile, Naruto made his way to the front of the room, heading for Iruka. The teacher was watching him with curious and slightly wary eyes, but he kept his friendly and open smile on his face. Naruto drew to a halt in front of him, and without saying a word handed the man Sandaime's note.

Iruka eyed the new kid carefully before inwardly shrugging and taking the small slip of paper. He quickly unfolded and scanned the scribbled words.

_Iruka-kun,_

_The boy is Uzumaki Naruto. He has recently returned from a training trip, but I believe he is capable so allow him to take the Genin Exams. Please be open-minded._

_Sarutobi Sandaime Hokage_

Naruto watched warily as Iruka's face turned white then red and his aura flashed with fury. A sad sort of understanding came on him as angry brown eyes met his own. Iruka was one of _them_. One of the people who hated him because of Kyuubi.

Oh yes, he knew about his residential demon. He had known for years, ever since he had been knocked out for training too long and too hard and Kyuubi had drawn him down into the dark sewer-chamber in Naruto's mind. They had talked regularly since then, connected to the mind as well as the body, and Naruto had eventually grown fond of the fuzz ball.

Not to say the demon was a gentle, caring and misunderstood beast. Kyuubi was a gruff, tough old fox that had enjoyed taking down Konoha. He'd had his reasons, but he never regretted killing the Shinobi of Konoha. He had never been kind and gentle to Naruto; he'd been a slave driving, maniac teacher who had never held back or sugar-coated anything. Konoha had every reason to hate the fuzz ball, which Naruto acknowledged even though he knew that they still had no reason to hate _him_ because of that.

But still, Iruka didn't have to look at him like that. He wondered what family of the teacher's Kyuubi had killed; someone close to him, for Iruka to sending him a look so dirty. A father, brother perhaps? His whole family maybe?

"You are allowed to participate _Uzumaki_," Iruka's strained voice interrupted his musings. Naruto nodded sharply and turned to return to his seat, never noticing the half confused, half angry look Iruka sent at his back.

* * *

Prejudice is a great timesaver. It enables you to form opinions without bothering to get facts. (Unknown)

* * *

Umino Iruka watched as the Uzumaki kid walked back to his seat with confused eyes. He had no idea why Sandaime-sama was allowing _that demon_ to participate in his class, especially knowing what it had taken away from him, and he felt slightly betrayed that his leader would allow the brat in. However, Uzumaki hadn't even reacted to his angry tone; the brat had taken it calmly and maturely, which was making Iruka's inner conscience feel guilty, which only made him angrier. He didn't like that the Kyuubi brat was making him feel guilty.

Truthfully, Uzumaki wasn't what he had expected. True, the boy's coloring was a little exotic, but nothing about him seemed to scream 'I am an evil fox demon, kill me!' Iruka watched as the boy sat himself between the Haruno heir and the youngest Uchiha, anger fading away to be replaced with bemusement. Shaking his stray thoughts away, Iruka stood at the front of the class, gathering his student's attention quickly.

"Hello," he started, smiling at them all. "Today is the day for your Genin Exams, and the day you will be joining the world of the adults," Iruka thought he heard a snort come from Uzumaki's direction, but when he looked the brat was watching him innocently. "Your test is divided into three parts. There is a written exam, a weapon test, and a chakra test. When I call your name you will enter the room next door so we can begin."

Looking at their eager faces Iruka was struck by how _young_ some of these teenagers seemed. Most of them held onto their innocence, remaining unaware of the harsher aspects of the Ninja life. In some ways it made him happy and sad; happy that they held onto to their childishness and sad that they would soon lose it. His eyes were drawn however to the two students who were darker than their classmates; the students that held very little naivety for what would come next.

He was already aware that Uchiha Sasuke had long since lost his innocence. The Uchiha Massacre was a well-known tragedy in Konoha. Iruka knew that Sasuke and his older brother Itachi had been out, getting groceries for their mother and returned to find most of the clan brutally murdered. The killer hadn't been identified and as of yet was still a mystery. Sasuke had changed fairly dramatically after that event changing from a cheerful child to a withdrawn one. He'd seen death and Iruka knew that that would make him less innocent than his classmates.

However he was somewhat surprised to see that the second teenager who seemed to have lost his innocence was none other than the resident demon Uzumaki Naruto. He had no idea what the brat's life was like; he didn't pay attention to demons. He, like the rest of the village, had forgotten about Uzumaki after they had found out about his disappearance. He wondered, for a second, what kind of experience had made Uzumaki lose his innocence.

Iruka shook his head to clear stray thoughts and said to his now restless class, "First up, Aburame Shino." The tall, silent boy slid out of his seat and followed Iruka into the next room.

The Genin Exams, Iruka decided after three hours of students, were tiring and frustrating. Some students did well, like Haruno Sakura, and some failed. Some even blacked out from nervousness like Hyuuga Hinata. He was so glad he only had to do this once a year. Thankfully he only had three students left; Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Yamanaka.

Uchiha Sasuke strolled into the room nonchalantly, his blank black eyes fixed on Iruka. Iruka shivered lightly and instructed his student to sit and begin his written test, all the while watching Sasuke from the corner of his eye.

Sasuke was said to be an Uchiha genius, but Iruka wasn't so sure about that. In his younger years, before the Clan's annihilation, the youngest Uchiha had been bright, happy, and talented. After the massacre however, Sasuke's light had burned out, leaving a shell of the person he used to be. His talent had become stagnant and repetitive, leaving no room for new techniques or ideas. It was sad thing to see for Iruka, as he knew unless someone became precious in Sasuke's life; he doubted the Uchiha would become a better shinobi.

He took the test from Sasuke, scanning the answers and allowing a smile to overtake his face as he saw they were all correct. Next he waved his student to the targets, telling him to aim for the vital points. Once again, Sasuke did excellently, all of his shuriken hitting the vital points dead on. Finally Iruka instructed Sasuke to make three Bunshin and smiled again as the Uchiha did so effortlessly.

Iruka handed Sasuke his headband and told him to inform Uzumaki he was up next. He sat down nervously; this was the exam that he had been dreading all day. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to deal with that demon being so close to him.

Uzumaki walked quickly into the room, his long trench coat flaring around his hips. Iruka tried to maintain his neutral expression, but some of his hatred must have leaked through because Uzumaki's blue eyes had hardened and shifted away from him. The brat sat down at his desk and started his written exam promptly.

Iruka took the paper slowly when Uzumaki was done, somewhat reluctant to touch anything already touched by a demon. He quickly scanned the answers and nodded to himself - all answers were good, dependable, and fairly accurate - nothing out of the ordinary. Iruka ushered Uzumaki to the target boards, watching keenly as the brat threw his kunai. His aim was good, although Iruka noticed a faint twitch in his muscles as he threw **(2)**. He hit most of the marked places accurately, and those that he didn't ended up fairly close.

Finally there was the Chakra exam, which he instructed Uzumaki to make three bunishen. He could have sworn he felt the brief, heavy pressure of an incredibly powerful chakra, but in the next instance it was gone, leaving only his blonde student and the three clones. Iruka shook his head, clearing the cobwebs, and handed Uzumaki his headband. He didn't have a valid reason to fail the brat, unfortunately.

"Thanks Iruka-sensei," Uzumaki said brightly, tying the headband over his black bandana. Iruka felt his stomach twist but forced it away, glaring at the boy instead. He tried to ignore the guilt when he saw the brat's smile become fixed instead of natural. He had no reason to feel guilty.

"Tell Yamanaka she's next," he said tonelessly, and watched Uzumaki leave the room before sitting down in his seat with a sigh. He could only hope his last student would be less troublesome than the two before her. He already had enough of a headache.

* * *

"The most dangerous enemy is that which no one fears." (Angels & Demons by Dan Brown)

* * *

Naruto returned to the hotel room Jiraiya had rented and closed the door with a sigh of relief. His new mentor wasn't back yet, and the room was quiet. Naruto made his way to his bed, picking up the clothes he had discarded earlier that still had his scrolls attached to them. He hadn't wanted to attract attention by wearing the scrolls – he attracted enough with his strange eye and hair colors, not to mention his attitude in Classroom 5.

Naruto fingered the well-worn scrolls and smiled. When he was younger Raiden had introduced him to the art of sealing – something that his adopted brother had learned alongside his father. Despite the fact that Raiden had never been as good at sealing as Yondaime, he still taught Naruto quickly and efficiently, leading him to get the second highest level of his Apprenticeship in three years. However to get any higher than that, Naruto would have to find a real master – such as the Gama Sannin Jiraiya.

Still wearing a smile, Naruto unfolded the scroll quickly. Inside were lines of delicate kanji swirling around his trademark – the thick, three lined spiral. Gathering a small amount of his charka, Naruto bit his thumb and allowed the blood to leak onto the spiral, releasing the seal he had placed upon most of his possessions. When the chakra settled, there were items spread across the thin paper.

Naruto picked up the two fans first, opening them to allow the painted picture on the razor sharp metal to shine through. The first fan, which he had named _Chuugi_ had the Konoha leaf painted on it in deep green with a black background. The second fan was named _Gaman_ and had a detailed picture of a crimson red Kyuubi painted on it with swirls of orange and yellow as its background. He had gotten them mainly because of his wind based attacks and chakra, and had the pictures painted on them to remind him of the two things he valued most in life. Naruto admired them for a minute before allowing them to snap closed and attach them to his black shinobi belt.

Next came his three Sai, all of them named _Bouei_. Their handles were made from dark brown ash wood, and the long baton in the middle was made from sharp silver. The all had an octagonal shape and the Uzumaki spiral engraved on the hilts so he could recognize them easily. He spun each of them around his index finger once, smiling at the balanced weight, before slipping them onto his belt as well.

His knives came next. His first knife, the one he had gotten when he was seven, was named _Seido_ and had a thin, straight 13 in. steel coated blade with an edge of silver with a hilt dyed a deep crimson red. His second knife, which he had gotten at 9, was named _Suraisu_ and had a thicker, 12 in. blade made from pure steel that curved slightly to resemble a Scimitar. The hilt was colored a deep green. Naruto slide one of them into each boot for easy access whenever possible.

His final weapons were his Senbon, which had never decided to name. The slender, silver needles went into his pack until he needed them further.

Naruto sighed, feeling better now that he had all of his weapons on him. _Ginkaze_, his sword, was a safety blanket in Konoha, but he would never feel completely safe unless he was fully armed. He looked down at the final two items that had been in his scroll and smiled sadly. These two possessions would always well up a bittersweet feeling to him.

In Shinobi society, when there is a single heir to a clan and no head (a scenario which has become extremely possible in the last 20 years, due to Kyuubi and the Iwa wars) the heir was appointed as the head to his clan when he reached 12, the normal age for him to become a Genin. Naruto hadn't been an exception to this tradition.

He fingered his first head ring – a beaten band of silver with the Uzumaki spiral etched onto the outside. His fingers traced the inside of its round surface, feeling the faint engraving of the family motto: _"Either find a way or make one"_. He smiled as he slipped the ring onto his right middle finger – that motto suited the Uzumaki family, a clan known for their determination and mule-like stubbornness. Naruto picked up the second ring slowly, the bittersweet feeling rising up higher in his throat. His mother's ring never evoked such a strong feeling because he never heard about what happened to her on _that night_. But his father's ring……holding the head ring of the man who had both condemned him and sired him brought a powerfully sad and unhappy feeling into his throat.

Naruto stared down at the onyx made ring that had golden leaved engraved along the edges. In his mind's eye he could see the family motto written out in bold kanji; _"The precious make the sword sharper"_. With an ache in his chest, Naruto slipped the ring onto his left middle finger.

Naruto stared down his now blank seal for a few moments before sighing and rolling it back up to attach to his belt. He also attached the three other blank scrolls he had to his belt before leaving quickly and quietly through the window, with only the four missing items to show that he had been there to begin with.

* * *

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance." (Socrates)

* * *

Sarutobi watched as Jiraiya paced in front of his desk and frowned thoughtfully. Truthfully, with all the havoc Naruto had caused with his reappearance he had forgotten Jiraiya had needed to make a report. He leaned forward in his chair, setting his pipe to the side with only a mournful glance.

"What was it you need to speak with me about Jiraiya?" he asked, his calm voice a complete opposite to Jiraiya's flustered pacing.

Jiraiya sighed and stopped in front of his desk, crossing his arms across a broad chest. He said quietly, "My sources have gotten news of Orochimaru and a new organization – Akatsuki."

Sarutobi raised a grey eyebrow and frowned thoughtfully. _'Red dawn?'_ he thought to himself with a mental snort. _'This __Akatsuki__ must have a sense of drama. However the news that Orochimaru is on the move is troubling._'

"Can you tell what Orochimaru is planning?" he asked directly.

Jiraiya shook his head, obviously exasperated, "I have no idea what that crazy idiot is doing, only that whatever his plans are, they will be big. He's been gone late at night and has spoken of meetings of important value to his future schemes."

"And what of this Akatsuki? You wouldn't mention them unless they bothered you Jiraiya," Sarutobi asked quietly.

Jiraiya sighed, "They, as far as I can tell, have set their sights on the demons, which puts Naruto in obvious danger. Other than that, their actions are shadowed. I have no idea what they are doing now, only that they are powerful and sneaky, which is always a dangerous combination. The Chuunin Exams in three months would be a perfect time for anyone to attack with so many foreign shinobi coming in and out. I want you to be careful Sarutobi-sensei."

Sarutobi smiled to himself – Jiraiya, no matter how much he projected a gruff exterior, always had cared for his team's safety, especially after Orochimaru. He said aloud, "I will Jiraiya, I will."

The two fell into silence and stared out over the darkening sky of Konoha, neither knowing that the promise given that day would be broken in less than a year.

* * *

**Author's Note:** And that's the end of the very long chapter one! I know that Atasuki and Orochimaru aren't mention until later in canon, but I thought I'd speed it up a little. Please read the notes at the bottom – some of them are important.

**Note:** On the subject of Naruto's parents; I edited when the more recent chapters of the Manga came out announcing Naruto as the son of Yondaime and his wife. I changed it a bit; in my version they were secret lovers and nobody knew about their affair, not even Jiraiya as you can see. Sarutobi was the only person to know and Raiden as he was Yondaime's bodyguard. In the Manga their relationship was at least known to Tsunade and Jiraiya. Naruto's parentage will probably be the only spoilers for the current Manga I'll put in this story, as it's a large part of his history.

Uzu no Kuni: The Land of the Whirlpool. It was referred to in past-tense in the manga, which means it most probably doesn't exist any more. Uzu was the birthplace of Naruto's mother, Uzumaki Kushina.  
Hi no Kuni: The Land of Fire. This is the most powerful country in _Naruto_, and houses Konohagakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Leaves), one of the largest shinobi villages in the Elemental Countries.

**Weapon Names: **I am not an expert at Japanese names or even the language. If you wish to give me corrections, you're free to do so. However these are the rough translations for the names of Naruto's weapons.

Chuugi: Loyalty (Fan)  
Gaman: Tolerance (Fan)  
Bouei: Protection (Sai)  
Seido: Precision (Knife)  
Suraisu: Slice (Knife)  
Ginkaze: Silver Wind (Sword)

**(1)** Think something like Tsunade's coat, except longer and without sleeves. The length is like Yondaime's flaming jacket.  
**(2) **Naruto is much better than he shows himself to be on the Exams - he simply doesn't want to be noticed so he makes sure all of his tests have ordinary scores. His muscles are twitching because he has "muscle memory" of certain techniques he uses to make his aim so extraordinary, but he's using something different to dull it a bit and his muscles are unsure what to do (thus, the twitch).


	2. In Which Team 7 is Formed

**Author's Note:** Chapter Two! Let me say, I was really happy with the response to this fic. I'm so glad all of you liked it, and I hope that it continues to live up to the expectations in the future! This chapter is extremely short compared to the last one, but I have to leave on the 20th of November for a family trip, and I wanted to end this with a cliffhanger. Chapter three will be out probably by the second or third week of December (and it will be longer!), as I won't be back until the 3rd. Enjoy minna-san!

"Talking" / _'Thinking'_ / _Emphasized words _/ **"Kyuubi speaking in Naruto's mindscape"**

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Two: In Which Team 7 is Formed**

Rai-nii-san said that writing things down make them better. I'm not sure if that's true, but it can't hurt to try. Maybe ordering my thoughts and pouring them down onto paper will make them fade. I can't stand these memories.

He had family and friends. Is this what it's always like? These people that you're ordered to get rid of do they always have people who love them? Will there always be people who cry when your victim is gone, that will bury him after his death? Will it always hurt this much to see their tears, to hear their voices crack as they say goodbye?

I hate killing, and I hate death, not because I'm taking away a life, but because I leave people behind to suffer for it.

(Except from Uzumaki Naruto's Journal, age 8)

* * *

**Konohagakure: Hi no Kuni  
****The 6th of May**

When Naruto woke, the sun was shining down on his face through the un-curtained window. He groaned, flipping onto his side and wondering why morning always had to come so quickly. Despite his early morning yesterday, Uzumaki Naruto could never be defined as one of those evil beings known as "morning people". After a few minutes of uselessly trying to get back to sleep Naruto sighed and sat up in his comfortable bed, pouting as he slipped out from underneath the plain white covers. And the bed still looked so comfy too……

Naruto padded across the room before he could give into temptation, dressed in the loose boxers and sleeveless white shirt he always wore to sleep. He quickly grabbed his clothes for the day and headed into the bathroom, getting undressed and stepping into the shower. Still half-asleep, he scrubbed through his blonde hair and over his body and face until he was more alert and clean as well. Stepping out, he grabbed a towel and dried himself off before starting to get dressed.

Naruto slipped into his underwear and black cargo pants, slipping on his shinobi pouch and belt as well. His sleeveless gray shirt and gray trench coat followed closely after that, followed by his black combat boots. Finally, he pulled on his gloves and tied a gray bandana around his hair before putting on his shinobi headband over it.

He slipped out of the bathroom fully dressed and grabbed Ginkaze before heading to the door. He would have brought the rest of his weapons with him, but to considering the place he was heading it probably wouldn't be the greatest idea he'd ever had. Plus he knew that his Jounin sensei wouldn't make them do anything that needed his weapons on the first day. Naruto raised a single blonde eyebrow (a trick that had taken many years of practice and tutoring from Rai-nii-san before he had gotten it down) at the sight of Jiraiya, who was attached to the window with a pair of binoculars to his eyes and blood running down his nose. Naruto sighed as he watched the older man giggle and blush at whatever poor lady he was peeping at through the window - how had he gotten stuck with such a pervert again?

Naruto passed the giggling man and shouted out as he opened the door, "I'm going out Ero-Sennin, and I'll be back sometime after Noon! Don't die from blood loss I still need your useless ass!"

Ah, the love.

Naruto stopped as soon as he was outside, rubbing the top of his cloth-covered head. Now where to find the place he wanted to go……? He really couldn't wait for Rai-nii-san to get here so he could get a tour. Sighing Naruto turned in a random direction and started to walk. He grinned when he reached a market – what a perfect place to ask for directions! Naruto scurried up to the nearest stand – _Dango_ by the looks of it. The woman selling them was plump, short, and elderly with waist length white hair pulled up into a high ponytail.

"Ano……" Naruto said hesitantly, making kind brown eyes fly up to meet his own. "Do you think you could tell me where to find the Uchiha Estate Obaa-san?"

The woman smiled, making crinkles appear at the edges of her mouth and eyes, "Of course young man, of course. Let me see," she tapped her chin thoughtfully, "I believe the Uchiha Estates are down that way," she gestured to the road Naruto had been traveling on, "about a half-mile or so, and then to your left. They should be only a little ways after the Academy if you get lost sweetie." Naruto gaped when she called him sweetie but the old woman just winked at him, making him harrumph.

"Arigatou Gozimasu," he said, dropping into a short bow before hurrying down the road he came by. The woman watched him go with indulgent eyes before shaking her head and returning to her work, muttering about impatient younglings.

Naruto had always been fast, so what should have been a half-hour trip got cut down to barely ten minutes. The dango seller's directions had helped out a lot, especially with the hint about the Academy – he had made it there and only gotten lost twice!

Naruto had heard stories about the Uchiha Estate from Itachi-sensei; the older boy had described it as large and luxurious, with too many things for too little people. However, standing in front of its gates now, the only word Naruto could come up with was _creepy_. The house was painted black, and had little other color to it, except the flashes of the trademark Uchiha symbol painted here and there on the outside. It was a huge Victorian style mansion with high, pointed ceilings and large stained glass windows. Naruto sighed and opened the black, spiked gates, shuddering when they creaked ominously. He may have been a shinobi, but he really, really hated all things creepy and crawly.

Naruto leaped his way down the long alley to the house, wondering if this had been a good idea. He could always come back later and hope that maybe the Uchiha's had painted their house pink or something to make it seem less dreary……

The idea of the gloomy, magnificent mansion being painted a cheery pink made Naruto a little less nervous and a little more amused. In a corner of his mind he was plotting how exactly he could get it done, and how much paint it would take to get the whole house……Inner Naruto rubbed his hands together evilly, cackling all the while. Outer Naruto rolled his eyes.

Completely relaxed due to his bout of insanity, Naruto grinned as he reached the tall, oak door. Raising a tan hand he knocked three times, wondering if he should return to being nervous when his knocks echoed suspiciously. Naruto swallowed and waited, a booted foot tapping impatiently.

Slowly the door creaked open.

Naruto had mentally prepared himself for this meeting the entire run over to the Uchiha Estates. He had assured himself that he would be _strong_, _manly_, and _unemotional_. He would _not_ embarrass himself by acting like some sissy girl reunited with her one true love. However all of that went flying out of his head as soon as he saw Uchiha Itachi.

Naruto flew at the older boy, wrapping him in a huge hug and pressing his face into the crook of Itachi's neck, breathing in his scent. He felt Itachi stiffen and mentally smiled – his sensei had never got used to being hugged, no matter how many times Naruto had randomly sprang one on him in the past. Slowly (very slowly, in Naruto's opinion) Itachi relaxed, although he didn't do anything more than stand there and let Naruto hug the stuffing out of him. Naruto pulled back soon after that, and scanned Itachi's face eagerly, drinking in the sight of his sensei after being apart for so long.

He looked older. The lines under his eyes that had been faint when they had first met had deepened, giving him a more mature look. Naruto was relieved to see the charcoal black eyes instead of the flashing red of Sharingan – both he and Raiden had lectured Itachi about the dangers of keeping his Bloodline activated all the time, and apparently the Uchiha had taken it to heart. The lines of his face seemed sharper, and his cheeks had lost the small amount of baby fat Itachi had had when they had first met. However, despite these changes, Itachi still looked very much the same – his long, silky black hair and narrow, tilted eyes hadn't changed at all.

"I'm back, Itachi-sensei," he said, beaming at the older boy.

Itachi gave him a _look _(Number 12 on the list of Uchiha Itachi's expressions: 'Way to state the obvious you moron') before saying, "Naruto-kun."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the typical greeting. It would probably scar Itachi for life to say more than the occasional short sentence.

"Well?" the blonde demanded, moving a little farther away from Itachi and placing his hands on his hips. "Are you going to let me in or not?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow ('How rude Naruto-kun') before turning around and heading back through the door, Naruto following closely. It had surprised him when he could start reading out what Itachi was saying through his facial expressions – when he told Raiden his nii-san had gotten this funny look on his face and had muttered something about his "baby growing up already". Naruto shook his head – Rai-nii-san was weird.

He scanned the hallways, rolling his eyes when he noticed that it was as dark and gloomy as the outside of the house was. How typically Uchiha. Itachi led him into the sitting room, a large room with the bare minimum of furniture needed, bare walls, and no windows. Naruto felt like rolling his eyes again – how he had gotten with such a cheapskate for a sensei he had no idea……

Sighing he sank into one of the straight backed chairs surrounding a round table and folded his hands under his chin, staring up at Itachi through long eyelashes. Itachi swept into the chair across from him, his eyes unreadable even to Naruto. The silence stretched for a moment.

"When did you get back?" Itachi asked finally, his voice flat.

Naruto grinned, "Just yesterday in fact. I would've come sooner, but Ero-Sennin and I had a hard time finding a hotel that would let the old pervert in, especially after he started flirting with all the female workers, and then I had to do those stupid Genin Exams. I would've come after that, but I was really exhausted so I just decided to stop by first thing in the morning."

Itachi nodded indifferently, although Naruto could see a spark of amusement at his babble inside the dark eyes. He huffed and glared playfully at the older boy.

"Raiden?" Itachi asked quietly.

Naruto rolled his eyes again, "Stayed back, the lazy ass. He'll probably be here soon – he could never be away from me long. Anyhow, there is a reason to my contagious visit besides informing you that the one and only Uzumaki-sama has arrived……" Naruto grinned as Itachi huffed at his arrogance. However the smile soon wiped off his face. "I met your brother yesterday – his name's Sasuke right?" Itachi gave a bare hint of a nod, his black eyes narrowed onto Naruto's face. "Have you been training him?"

Itachi said softly, "Sasuke's training has been neglected."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "I can see that. His power levels are way below yours, and only a little higher than the rest of the Genin in my class. But why was his training neglected? You know better than to coddle him and let him sit around and do nothing."

Itachi gave him a look. Naruto sighed, "I'm guessing either your ANBU duties or the Uchiha Massacre affected him negatively."

As quiet as ever, Itachi answered, "The clan's massacre affected Sasuke greatly. He has become a stale shell of the talented child he used to be. My ANBU duties also kept me from spending as much time with him as I would have liked."

Naruto felt like falling off his chair in shock at hearing Itachi speak three full sentences together, if only to clear the mood a little, but felt that his sensei wouldn't appreciate it. He sighed and leaned forwards in his chair, his blue eyes intensely focused on Itachi's face.

"He's not doing well Itachi-sensei. His aura is clouded with revenge and every good emotion has the tinge of darkness to it. If he continues this way, in a few years he will be insane."

Only those closest to Itachi would notice the slight tightening around his eyes at those words. Naruto said nothing about the worry he could see in the older boy's face and instead continued to watch him and wait for an answer. Itachi sighed.

"Please watch over him Naruto-kun," he asked, dropping his head in a subservient manor.

In Itachi's mind, there was nothing else to be done. He couldn't help his brother – he had no experience with comfort or coddling, and didn't spend enough time with the boy as it was. Sasuke had no close friends to turn to, or any mentors to guide him away from the dark path he seemed to be taking. However if anyone could help him it would be Naruto, the boy with the sunny nature, too kind heart, and perceptive eyes. Naruto, whether he knew it or not, drew people to him like moths to a candle, except that instead of burning they were warmed by his large affection. He could heal even the most twisted of hearts, Itachi knew all too well.

After all, Naruto had been the one to save him as well.

_-Flashback-_

_"Hey."_

_Itachi blinked, trying to keep from dropping back into darkness. He slowly turned his head, wincing as he felt the dry blood spread over his skull crack and ooze slightly. There, standing in front of him, was a boy. A cute boy, in fact, with sunny spiked hair and large blue eyes. However the boy was dressed in dark gray ninja clothing – obviously not a civilian. Itachi was trying to remember why it was a problem that he should run into any shinobi, but his fuzzy mind couldn't come up with any reasons._

_The little boy knelt down beside Itachi and stared at him with curious, cat-like blue eyes before saying, "Ne, onii-san, what happened to you?"_

_Itachi stared at the child as he tried to remember why he had come to be in this state, and yet like the problem with meeting shinobi all he got were fuzzy memories he couldn't make out. Itachi shook his head, indicating that he had no answer. The little boy huffed. _

_"Well alright then. I'll get you to Rai-nii-san and Hisoka-chan, and they'll fix up right up, alright onii-san?"_

_Itachi concluded that the boy was stronger then he looked when the little blonde raised him to his feet with what looked like no effort at all. The boy carefully wrapped an arm around Itachi's waist – the child came up to mid-chest when they stood next to each other. Itachi leaned heavily on him, wincing when he heard one of his cracked rib pieces rubbing together in a grinding sort of way, and several scabbed wounds re-open. The boy seemed to notice his discomfort and strived to go as slowly as possible. _

_"We're nearly there," he informed Itachi seriously. Itachi tried to nod, but stopped immediately; moving his head made his temples throb spectacularly and sent black spots dancing around his eyes. Obviously, it was not a good idea._

_The strange pair approached a small house made out of dark brown wood and two little windows. Itachi couldn't help but think it looked like one of those "quaint" cabins his father would always sneer about. Itachi snorted, making the boy look up at him with curious eyes. He just glared until the little blonde shrugged and turned away. _

_They entered through the front door without knocking; something Itachi wasn't used to doing, even as a shinobi. His family was been high class, snobbish, and entirely too strict on manners. No one ever entered a house or even a room without knocking first, even in the direst of emergencies. Itachi found it distasteful and slightly ridiculous, but followed the rules all the same. Every Uchiha did._

_They entered the living area, where two people were sitting. For some reason Itachi thought he should know one of them, but his memories were still fuzzy and he couldn't make out how he should know them. He could see the black closing in around his eyes – he was starting to fall unconscious. However the boy kept his hold onto him, even as Itachi settled all his weight on him and they both started to droop to the floor._

_"My name's Uzumaki Naruto," he said, and his blinding smile was the last thing Itachi saw before he surrendered to the darkness of sleep. _

_-End Flashback-_

Naruto stared at Itachi with wide eyes, wondering if had, in fact, heard the tensai correctly. Itachi wasn't one to ask for help; his stubborn Uchiha pride wouldn't allow it. _'He must care quite a bit about Sasuke to swallow his pride like that'_ Naruto mused, eyeing Itachi thoughtfully.

"I will look after him the best I can. You know I will Itachi-sensei," Naruto answered, his usually exuberant voice quiet.

And Itachi knew that, of course. Naruto, for some unknown reason, couldn't stand to see people in pain. The blonde was always helping others, keeping others sane by his large heart and cheery ways……Itachi knew that even if he had not asked, Naruto would have helped Sasuke anyway, because that was a part of who he was.

"Yes," Itachi said, equally as quiet.

The room descended into silence for a moment before Naruto huffed and said loudly, "Well now that we're done with that depressing bit of conversation……I probably should get going. It's what," Naruto glanced up at the clock hanging about the door, "11:45 already! Damn, I'm gonna be late!" Itachi watched with amusement as Naruto hurried out of his chair and out of the living room. He didn't get up from his seat. A minute later, Naruto's head popped back into the door, looking sheepish.

"Sorry Itachi-sensei!" he yelled. "I'll see you after the Team meet ups alright? Maybe tomorrow we can do something!" And then he was gone again, his chakra and presence disappearing fluidly from Itachi's range.

Itachi let a small half-smile cross over his face as he leaned back in his chair languidly. Even if he would never admit aloud, he was glad to have Naruto back in his life.

* * *

Grief can be a burden, but also an anchor. You get used to the weight, to how it holds you to a place. (The Truth about Forever by Sarah Dessen; Macy)

* * *

When Naruto entered Classroom 5 it was just as noisy as it had been the day before, only without the hordes of screaming banshees crowding around Uchiha Sasuke. The blonde sighed in relief – he really didn't feel like dealing with those blood-thirsty, _scary_ girls right now. He strode to the back of the room where the younger Uchiha was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed and his head tilted towards the ceiling and slid into the seat next to him.

Startled by the unexpected neighbor, Sasuke's eyes opened and his head snapped to the side. He relaxed however, when he saw it was only the blonde from yesterday that had saved (not that he would ever admit it) his ass from his crazed fangirls.

Naruto smiled in amusement at the quick succession of panic and relief that flashed across the Uchiha's aura – he had activated his bloodline after leaving the Uchiha Estate just for the purpose of getting a closer look at the people who would be his team. He was going to be spending a lot of time with his teammates, and he wanted to get a look at their personalities and power level as early as possible.

Naruto watched as the rest of the class filed in, smirking inwardly when he saw more than one dirty look thrown at him by a USRFA member. He idled his time by picking out some of the stronger students – a girl with short dark hair and the trademark light eyes of a Hyuuga was clearly above her classmates, and about even with Sasuke. There were three boys also, who were closer to the Hyuuga's and Sasuke's range - a guy wearing sunglasses with poufy black hair, another with a topknot of spiked dark hair that was half-asleep on his desk, and the last was a guy with shaggy brown hair, dark eyes, and a puppy in his jacket. Naruto raised an eyebrow; he could recognize their clans plainly by their looks; an Aburame, a Nara, and an Inuzuka. However it was surprising that, besides him, Sasuke, and the Hyuuga girl, that they were strongest out of the lot. Nara's were known more for their strategic mind, and both the Aburame and Inuzuka clan relied on their animals to win a battle. They weren't known to be that powerful, especially when dealing with chakra. Were the rest of Genin really that weak……?

Naruto was startled out of his musings when Iruka entered the classroom, carrying a pile of papers and wearing a smile. The dark haired teacher dumped his pile onto the desk in the front before picking up a single sheet. Naruto leaned forward in anticipation – he had been waiting for this moment. Iruka cleared his throat and the room fell silent.

"Team 1," he started, "is Himura Sanosuke, Kurosaki Byakuya, and Ami Rukia. Your Jounin sensei is Shiranui Genma. Team 2 is still in rotation from last year. Team 3……" Naruto sighed and tuned the man out – he had no desire to know what everyone else's team was. He kept his senses open so he would hear his name called out and turned his attention out the window.

"Team 7 is Uchiha Sasuke," Naruto perked up, interested to see who was on the team with Itachi's little brother, "Haruno Sakura," Naruto winced in sympathy, "and Uzumaki Naruto."

The room was dead silent for a minute before Naruto said, "Whaaat?"

That broke the ice. Sakura jumped up, screaming (like the banshee she was) with joy and Sasuke slumped visibly in his chair. While Uzumaki might not be that bad, he was stuck on a team with one of his _fangirls_……Why couldn't he have gotten Hinata? She, at least, didn't obsess over him……

Iruka hid a smile and continued, "Your Jounin sensei is Hatake Kakashi. Team 8 is Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata. Your Jounin sensei is Yuhi Kurenai. Team 9 is still in rotation from last year. Team 10 consists of Yamanaka Ino," Naruto perked up from where he had slumped in defeat (he was stuck with Sakura! Sakura, the rapid Uchiha fangirl!) then glanced at Ino, who was leaning forward in her seat, "Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji. Your Jounin sensei is Sarutobi Asuma." Naruto held a hand over his mouth to block his smile; Ino was currently alternating between wailing about the injustice of life and hitting a protesting Shikamaru over the head.

Iruka ignored the chaos and rolled up the list of teams as he said, "Congratulations on your team placing! Please wait for your Jounin sensei here!"

Naruto sighed as he watched Iruka smile cheerily at them. He was glad that he was with Sasuke, because that would make his job of looking after the younger Uchiha much easier. Sakura on the other hand……he snuck a glance at the excited pinkette and rolled his eyes. It would take a lot of work to get her mind out of the fangirl setting, and her banshee like screeches were making him dislike her more than he already did. Perhaps, in time they could be friends, but that would never happen until she lessened her fixation on Sasuke and started to work harder to become a real kunoichi.

Naruto leaned back in his seat, surveying the room and frowned as he noticed that most of the teams had already been picked up by their Jounin sensei. He looked over at Iruka, who was sitting at his desk marking papers.

"Oi, Iruka-sensei!" he called out, and he didn't miss the flash of annoyance that passed over the teacher's face as he looked up.

"Yes Uzumaki?" Iruka asked curtly.

"Is this Hatake Kakashi guy always late?" Naruto was somewhat curious about his sensei. Raiden had spoken of him, but only about his past somewhat – that Kakashi had been placed in a team under his father with an Uchiha Obito and a Yamaro Rin. However Rai-nii-san spoke highly of the Jounin and Naruto wanted to meet him to see what all the fuss was about.

Iruka looked somewhat amused as he answered, "Hatake-san is well known for his lateness Uzumaki. You'll probably be here for a while."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched; he really, _really_ didn't want to wait here for Kakashi to show up……he frowned slightly.

**"Oi,"** a deep voice echoed in the back of Naruto's head, making the blonde roll his eyes. **"I remember your sensei. He was younger when I first saw him……a scrawny shrimp with gray hair and a mask. Didn't give me much of a fight though……"** Kyuubi almost sounded wistful. Naruto snorted – the old fox really did enjoy a challenge too much. **"I could probably sniff him out for you. Listening to your whining is more than I can bear."**

_'I wasn't whining!' _Naruto insisted indignantly, even as he left his seat to stand by the windows. _'I was……brooding elegantly.'_

Kyuubi snorted, **"You couldn't brood to save your life, let alone brood 'elegantly'."**

Naruto snorted and opened the window. Sakura noticed what he was doing and came up behind him curiously.

"What are you doing Uzumaki?" she asked, somewhat snidely.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder at her coolly, "I'm going to find our sensei. I don't want to be here longer than I have to Haruno."

With that he leapt out of the window, ignoring the shriek of surprise that Sakura let out. Quickly he attached himself to the side of the academy and ran the rest of the way down to the ground. He let out a laugh when he heard Sakura's yell to come back, and continued to run, allowing Kyuubi to sniff out Kakashi's scent.

**"He's by the stone with the ningen on it,"** Kyuubi said after a minute of searching. Naruto's smile slid off his face, although he continued to run.

Rai-nii-san had mentioned that Kakashi's teammates had died – Uchiha Obito in a skirmish with Iwa shinobi, as well as Yamaro Rin and his father dying only a few years later when Kyuubi attacked. It didn't surprise Naruto that Kakashi was at the Memorial Stone – his teammates names would have been carved into it, as every shinobi that had died in both the Iwa wars and Kyuubi attack had been placed on the large rock.

Naruto jumped to the rooftops, heading swiftly for the stone. He had a vague idea where it was – when he had been younger he hadn't spent much time wandering around Konoha due to the beatings. He had stayed indoors, only travelling to Ichiraku's and the Grocery store when he absolutely needed to. His safety had never allowed him to travel to any place he didn't absolutely need to visit.

Naruto stopped at the edge of the clearing where the Memorial Stone was placed and watched for a minute.

Hatake Kakashi was a tall man with drooping spikes of silver-gray hair and a mask covering half of his face. Naruto knew that this was because of some strange Hatake tradition, but Rai-nii-san had never gone into the specifics. The Jounin's headband was tilted over his left eye, concealing the Sharingan eye he had received from his dying teammate. One white knuckled hand held an orange book that Naruto recognized immediately; Ero-Sennin had spent the greater time of their travels together researching and raving about his _Icha Icha_ series.

Naruto stepped into the clearing and his eyebrows knotted when Kakashi didn't even raise his head. A Jounin of his caliber (even now his power level shone an icy green-white) should have noticed Naruto immediately. The blonde hurried up to his new sensei's side and got an eyeful of his aura.

Blue had always been described as the color of "sadness". Naruto had studied colors and emotions thoroughly, and knew that emotions had certain "levels" to them in a way. Stronger emotions had more depth and a darker color than superficial ones. And right now he was looking into the sea of blue-black that swirled around Kakashi's core like a particularly violent typhoon, tints of purple and pure black hidden within the smooth original coloring.

_'Sweet Kami-sama'_ Naruto thought, alarmed for his new sensei. Kakashi's grief bordered on depression – the darkness of the color and the hints of black showed that. The purple hinted that the sadness had been there so long it had become immersed in his core – a swirling ball of purple, dark crimson red, and white.

"Kaka-sensei," Naruto barely noticed the affectionate nickname he had given his teacher, too horrified by the deep wells of grief he could see within the man.

Kakashi seemed to rouse himself from his dreamlike state and Naruto watched, fascinated, as the swirls of blue-black began to recede bit by bit until they were overtaken by a thin yellow color of fake happiness and contentment. Only a small layer of the original color remained on the outside of the yellow.

Naruto was amazed. It took years of training and a huge amount of effort to be able to push back such harsh emotions as the grief he had seen in his sensei – obviously the man was skilled in more than just jutsu. Kakashi straightened and Naruto noticed that his grip on the orange book had become looser. The Jounin's single black eye surveyed him curiously.

"Oh? Who might you be then blondie?" he asked, and Naruto's eyebrow twitched at the mocking edge the Jounin's voice had taken.

"One of your new students Oh Great and Powerful Kakashi-sama," Naruto swept into mockingly low bow.

"Oh finally someone has recognized my greatness," Kakashi said dramatically, fanning himself with his book. He peered down at Naruto and the blonde could sense him frowning teasingly through his blue mask, "If only it wasn't this short gaki……I would've preferred hoards of beautiful women……" Kakashi sighed wistfully.

Naruto's temple throbbed as he leaned up and swatted Kakashi on the back of his head, scowling as he shouted out, "Pervert! It's bad enough Ero-Sennin _writes_ those books, but for people to actually _read_ them……" Naruto shook his head in mock despair before looking up at the sky and pointing an accusing finger in Kakashi's direction. "Kami-sama this is who you give me as a sensei to guide me through my Genin years? _This_?!" **(1)**

Naruto felt triumphant when he saw _genuine_ amusement over-taking the fake wall of happiness his sensei had barricaded his grief behind. Considering how quickly Kakashi shifted from deep sadness to bright cheerfulness, Naruto was fairly certain that the Jounin hadn't felt actual amusement for quite some time.

"Care to explain why you came all the way out here gaki?" Kakashi asked, after the short moment of somewhat awkward silence that followed Naruto's dramatic statement.

Naruto gave him a mock-glare as he shouted out, "Iruka-sensei said that you would be late so I found you to drag you back to the Academy kicking and screaming! There was no way I was going to wait for your lazy ass to get to the Academy……" Naruto growled under his breath and pulled impatiently on Kakashi's arm.

The older man looked startled and then bemused by his new student's behavior, even as Naruto continued to pull Kakashi across the field and farther away from the Memorial Stone. Once they were outside the field, Naruto started to run, Kakashi easily keeping up at his side despite the hand still clamped around his wrist.

The Academy came into view after a few short minutes, and Kakashi mentally sighed. He really, _really_ didn't want to do this……He shot a glare at his oblivious student. If that stupid gaki hadn't come, perhaps he would have found a way out of it……Perhaps he could knock the gaki out and then make a run for it?

Naruto, ignoring the dangerous vibes emitting from his sensei, smiled when they reached the main entrance to the Academy. The building was empty, as all the teachers had already gone home for the day, which allowed Naruto and Kakashi to navigate their way fairly quickly to Classroom 5, entering quietly. Naruto mentally rolled his eyes when he saw Kakashi pull out his orange book and open it to a random page. He wasn't sure if the man was actually reading it or not.

The first thing Naruto saw was a nervous looking Sasuke edging slowly away from a ranting, furious Sakura. When they entered, Sakura immediately turned on them, leaving a visibly relieved Uchiha to relax from her onslaught.

"Uzumaki-baka! What did you think you were doing, running off like that? It would have looked bad for Sasuke-kun and me if our sensei had come in while you were gone……" she trailed off as she noticed Kakashi.

The silver haired man tapped his masked chin thoughtfully with his orange book as he said, "Hmm……My first impression of you is still not favorable, unfortunately."

Naruto rolled his eyes and swatted at Kakashi's head, ignoring Sakura's scandalized gasp at the familiar conduct between subordinate and superior. No matter that Kakashi was supposed to be their sensei – he was still a Jounin! Naruto was supposed to be properly respectful and subservient, not smack their teacher, even when he made such a remark as that! Sakura sent a glare in Naruto's direction.

But Kakashi ignored her and even Naruto as he chirped, "To the roof, faithful minions **(2)**!" and disappeared in a small swirl of leaves.

Naruto rolled his eyes yet again at Sakura's shocked look and Sasuke's disappointed one. Obviously they weren't expecting someone like _Kakashi_ to be their Jounin sensei; the person that would guide and mentor them through their Genin and Chuunin years. He had to say that he hadn't either, but at least _he_ had Jiraiya, Itachi, Kyuubi, and Raiden when he got his lazy ass to Konoha……Naruto shook away his stray thoughts and turned to Sasuke, ignoring Sakura for now. Her little speech when he had come back in had annoyed him, and he didn't want to try talking to her right now, or he was afraid he'd be more than a little rude. And if there was one thing he'd learned during his time with Jiraiya, it was to never piss off a woman.

"Coming or not?" he asked the Uchiha. Sasuke nodded and stood up, automatically entering what Naruto had dubbed "Brood Mode". Itachi had used it often too. Naruto quickly swept out of the classroom, Sasuke following closely behind with Sakura trailing after them, looking extremely confused.

They reached the roof to find Kakashi leaning against the wall next to the door, trying to look bad ass. The effect was ruined by his little orange book and the constant stream of giggles he was emitting. With his eyes still glued to the page, Kakashi gestured for them to sit. Sakura did so, but Sasuke and Naruto remained standing, both eyeing Kakashi; one with distaste, the other with curiosity.

"Well……" Kakashi drawled out. "Your all powerful sensei would like an introduction. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, goals, all that fun stuff," he carelessly waved a hand. "Pink girl, you're first."

Sakura eyed him carefully, "Shouldn't you go first sensei? So we know what to say?"

Kakashi gave her one of his smiles, and Naruto was interested to note that his fake cheerfulness exploded to almost dangerous amounts as he did so. Perhaps Kakashi used it to mask other emotions as well, and it needed to make his happiness stronger to do so? But why would he need to do that? He could be annoyed at them if he wanted, so why was he masking it? Naruto was starting to get even more interested in the puzzle that was Kakashi.

"Hatake Kakashi. I have many likes and many dislikes. My hobbies can wait until you're older……And, well I have a dream……"

Sakura muttered under her breath before huffing and starting her own introduction, "I'm Haruno Sakura. I like," here she gave a long, side-long glance at Sasuke before continuing, "and I dislike blondes of all kinds!" Naruto was given a glare. "My hobbies……" Sakura began to giggle. "My dreams……" Her giggles grew louder and more excitable, all while she was looking at Sasuke.

Naruto and Kakashi regarded the youngest Uchiha with pity. Kakashi interrupted Sakura's giggle fest by saying loudly, "Broody one, you're up."

"Uchiha Sasuke. I have some like and many dislikes. I don't have any hobbies, and my dream is really more of an ambition: to restore my clan and to kill a certain man."

Silence reigned over the roof until Naruto chuckled and commented, "How depressing."

It was a good thing looks couldn't kill, or our hero would be buried twice over. Kakashi seemed to be amused by Naruto's comment, but instead of laughing just gestured for the blonde to go next.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are training, a certain fox, people who believe in me, and ramen. My dislikes are most of the people in this village, prejudice, and intolerance. My hobbies are training and playing pranks on unsuspecting persons, and my dream……" he trailed off, looking thoughtful, before shrugging. "My dream is to make the people in Konoha acknowledge me one way……or another."

Naruto was well aware of the sharp glance he had received from Kakashi at his mention of a "certain fox" but the Jounin had remained silent, to his relief. He knew there would be a confrontation, but he didn't want it to happen in front of his new teammates. He didn't fully trust Sasuke and Sakura yet – at least, not with his secrets. They already were looking at him curiously, probably due to his statement about Konoha.

"Maa……I suppose that will be it for today. Report to Training Ground 7 at 6:30 AM sharp," Kakashi drawled out.

Sakura sounded puzzled as she asked, "What for sensei?"

"You'll be doing Survival Training," Kakashi sounded entirely too gleeful for Naruto's peace of mind.

"But we already did that in the Academy!" Sakura protested. Naruto was amused at her attitude; did she really think that the Academy standards were that great? The Academy was there to teach the students the basics; it was during the Genin years that the student grew the most, as they started to get real, one-on-one tutelage.

"Don't slack off," Kakashi warned, although it was ruined by his jovial tone. "Out of 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen as actual Genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This is a difficult test with a failure rate of 66! Anyhow, don't eat breakfast tomorrow – you'll only throw up. Ja ne minions of mine!" he cackled as he disappeared yet again in a cloud of leaves.

The roof was silent until Naruto sighed and said, "Jeez, we just had to have that guy huh?"

Sasuke grunted, while Sakura nodded enthusiastically, probably forgetting that she was agreeing with _Naruto_. The sole girl of the group turned to Sasuke, a sweet and innocent look overcoming her face as she bent her head shyly. Sakura twirled her fingers behind her back, rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Sasuke-kun, would you like to have dinner with me?" she asked timidly. Sasuke, Naruto noted, had frustration and annoyance flashing over his aura. Obviously this wasn't a new thing.

"No," the youngest Uchiha's voice was flat as he turned to head back to the rooftop door. Sakura looked crestfallen but resigned as she followed him out.

Naruto hesitated for a moment before yelling out, "Oi! Uchiha!" Sasuke looked at him over his shoulder, a single black eyebrow raised. "Talk to Itachi about the test tomorrow."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, as if to ask how _Naruto_ knew _Itachi_, but Naruto shook his head and mouth 'later' at him. Sasuke, eyes still narrowed, nodded stiffly before disappearing from sight down the stairs. Naruto sighed heavily, leaning against the wall behind him. He was _not_ going to enjoy talking about that tomorrow……

"Oi!" he called out lazily. "Kaka-sensei, you can come out now."

Kakashi emerged from a nearby tree eyeing Naruto suspiciously, his hands free of any orange porn for once.

"What did you want sensei? You don't seem like the type to go for younger guys, not that I'd ever date an old pervert like you……" Naruto drawled out, amused by the startled surprise that flashed across both Kakashi's aura and face.

"You know about……_it_?" Kakashi asked cautiously. He would, of course, be screwed if Naruto actually _didn't_ know anything, but he got the feeling from the gaki's introduction and the strange glint in his eye as he mentioned "a certain fox" that the blonde did know.

Naruto's cocky amusement faded as he looked up into Kakashi's face warily before saying, "Yes, I know about my furry friend."

Kakashi was quiet. He didn't know how to handle this; he hadn't even realized that one of his students was the Kyuubi container until he had looked at the list last night. It had been a shock to see Uzumaki Naruto among his ranks, especially when he knew for a fact that the blonde has disappeared when he was six. It made him both sad and happy to have Naruto on his team – he was a reminder of all that he had lost _that day_, but he also looked and acted so much like Minato-sensei……

Kakashi was shaken from his thoughts when a small poof of smoke appeared on Naruto's head. The blonde, looking annoyed, reached up and pulled a brightly colored frog off his blonde spikes. An eyebrow visibly twitching, Naruto scowled down at the frog, wondering what Ero-Sennin could possibly want _now_.

"What is it Gamakichi?" he asked.

Gamakichi huffed at Naruto's obvious annoyance and answered back sharply, "The old man wants you to come to the Hokage Tower, whiskers. He said something about the Hokage wanting to yap about your past and getting some sake for the special occasion."

Naruto snorted; that sounded like Jiraiya alright. He really didn't want to discuss his past with anyone, but Jiji-sama would need to know, if only to properly sort out missions for both Team 7 and Naruto solely. The blonde sighed and turned to Kakashi, who had watched the interaction between the frog and his student with an interested eye.

Naruto looked at him for a minute before sighing again, this time more loudly, and than saying, "You'd better come with me for this Kaka-sensei. Since you're my new sensei, you'll need to know what to expect from me," he turned back to Gamakichi and barked out. "Tell Ero-Sennin we'll be there shortly and to not drink all the sake."

Gamakichi snickered and nodded before disappearing in another poof of smoke. Naruto turned back to Kakashi and raised an eyebrow. Kakashi nodded and the two jumped from the Academy rooftop to the top of the building next to it, heading swiftly for the Hokage Tower in the middle of Konoha.

They reached the tower swiftly and managed to get into the Hokage's office within ten minutes; a feat that Kakashi had once thought impossible if you went the right way instead of through the windows.

He'd heard stories about the long wait line from Asuma and Kurenai, who both were too polite for their own good and always used the door. It impressed him that Naruto had managed to get them a meeting so fast; the Hokage must have cleared out his other appointments to make room for this talk.

They entered the Hokage's office, and Naruto snorted when he saw Jiraiya sitting at a comfortable sofa that hadn't been there the day before, guzzling sake like water. Sandaime was sitting at his desk, watching Jiraiya amusedly.

Dryly he said, "Didn't I ask for you not to drink all that sake Ero-Sennin?"

"You won't get any anyway, brat," a familiar dark, low voice said from his other side, making Naruto whirl around with wide, blue eyes. The person standing there was both familiar and unexpected.

"Rai-nii-san?!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Oh yes, I am evil; you'll have to wait three weeks for the cliffhanger to play out. Fear my evil genius (or ignore it, for I am high on brownies……)! Anyhow, I will say it again: I WILL BE GONE UNTIL DECEMBER THIRD! My family is going on vacation to Florida, and I won't be able to write much when we get back due to all the Homework that will pile up in my absence. I'll do my best to get Chapter 3 out the week after I get back, but I make no promises. I'm so sorry it was so short, but like I said at the beginning, I wanted to stop it at a cliffhanger and I have to leave on Tuesday. Please leave a review and let me know what you all think!

**A Note on the Flashbacks:** There will be a lot of flashbacks for AIT, mainly because so much of Naruto's background story hasn't been told. Maybe one day I'll sit down and try to write out the background story to AIT, but for now you'll all have to deal with the annoying flashbacks :D.  
**A Note on Kakashi:** I always thought that Kakashi had two masks – the physical one and the mental one. He lost his entire team (or so we think; nobody knows anything about Rin) and that has to hurt a lot, even after all these years. Plus the fact that he acts a bit like Obito says a lot about how much he took their deaths to heart. And so I thought that Kakashi's cheery nature is a lot like a mask – he does it to protect his grief, and even some of his other emotions as you saw with the intros and Sakura.  
**(And finally) A Note on Sakura:** I **AM NOT** going to bash Sakura all the time. The problem is that she annoyed me _so damn much_ during the whole period before the Chuunin Exams. This is my perception of her during that time – an ignorant, arrogant braggart who was in love with an image of someone she didn't truly know. She **WILL** change for the better, as she did in canon (I love Sakura now; how awesome is it that she can crack gigantic holes in the ground?). Sakura lovers please understand that I will _not_ bash Sakura for that long of time.

(Damn those were some long notes……)

**(1)** So dramatic Naru-kun……However this was my reaction to Kakashi in canon, especially with those pervert books of his…… **-mutters-  
****(2) **I can so imagine Kakashi saying that, can't you?


	3. In Which Naruto's Past is Revealed

**Author's Notes:** Yes, my dear readers, I am back. My trip to Florida was awesome, and I even got to use the computer for about 15 minutes to check up on things. Thank you all for your awesome reviews; I really enjoyed reading them and I answered most of them. Anyhow for Ch. 3 we're going to see a lot of flashback stuff; is where most of the basics of Naruto's past are revealed. Enjoy minna!

"Talking" / _'Thinking'_ / _Emphasized words_ / **"Kyuubi speaking in Naruto's mindscape"** / _"Jutsu"

* * *

_

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Three: In Which Naruto's Past is Revealed**

"Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." (Stephen King)

* * *

**Konohagakure, Hi no Kuni  
****The 6****th**** of May: 7:20 PM**

_-Previously on An Inconvenient Truth-_

_"You won't get any anyway, brat," a familiar dark, low voice said from his other side, making Naruto whirl around with wide, blue eyes. The person standing there was both familiar and unexpected._

_"Rai-nii-san?!"_

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that brat?"

Tanaka Raiden stepped out from the shadows of the room, his lazy golden eyes amused and his black hair swept into its familiar tight ponytail. He hadn't changed much since Naruto had first met him; only the lines of laughter and stress around his eyes and mouth indicated that he had aged at all.

Naruto gulped, and for a moment his mind was a complete blank. Then the realization that his nii-san was there swept over him and he launched himself at Raiden with a loud yell. Kakashi took an alarmed step forward, but stopped when he saw that Naruto wasn't attacking Raiden. The blonde had swept his nii-san into a tight hug, his face pressed into the tall man's chest and his arms tightly locked around the thin waist.

Raiden shifted uncomfortably, trying to loosen the brat's grip so he could breathe again. He'd forgotten how damned _clingy_ Naruto got when they had been apart.

"I _am_ human blondie," he wheezed out, "I do need air to stay alive."

Naruto released him reluctantly but stayed close to Raiden after they had separated a bright smile on his face. Raiden grumbled under his breath and shot the brat a glare before turning to face an amused Sarutobi.

"Raiden-kun arrived just before you did," the old Hokage said to Naruto and Kakashi. "He was, in fact, the one who initiated this little meeting."

Kakashi spoke up immediately after Sandaime, his eye focused completely on his old friend, "How do you know Naruto, Raiden?"

Raiden cast a casual glance down at Naruto that didn't go unnoticed by any in the room, and the blonde nodded. He looked back up at Kakashi and said easily, "He's Minato's son. I took him in."

Kakashi stood stock still for several long moments, his single eye wide, before he asked in a near whisper, "Kushina-chan?"

Raiden nodded admiringly, "Got it in one, pervert."

Kakashi ignored the nickname and ran his fingers through his hair agitatedly. He'd always suspected that Minato and Kushina had had _something_ going on, but he'd never thought that a _child_ would come out of it. When he'd heard Naruto's last name, he'd assumed, like everyone else who had known the spunky red-head, that the blonde was the son of an unknown husband. To think that his beloved sensei had had a child……Kakashi drew in a slow, long breath. He wanted to yell and rage and break things, but doing that would only make things worse. He needed to be calm.

"Do you have proof?" Kakashi asked Naruto.

Naruto nodded, "I took a blood test before coming here so I could prove it."

Kakashi's eye widened in shock. Blood tests were notoriously hard to manage, and it took years of practice in medicine and extreme finesse in wielding chakra to even _attempt_ doing one. "Who did it for you?" he asked breathlessly.

Naruto frowned and shook his head, "They wanted to be kept a secret."

Kakashi wanted to push for a name, but the serious look in Naruto's eyes stopped him. Instead he sank into the couch next to a still drinking Jiraiya, his mind still wavering between shock and anger. He knew that he would have figured out Naruto's parentage eventually; he looked too much like Minato to not be related to the dead Hokage in some way, and he had Kushina's name. But still, the thought of his sensei having a child and the anger at not being told that Kushina had been pregnant overwhelmed him.

Naruto kept an eye on Kakashi even as he sat in the chair placed in front of the Hokage's desk. He concentrated most of his attention on Sandaime and sat forward, eyes gleaming.

"You said you wanted to talk with me, Jiji-sama?"

Raiden sighed in the background; it seemed Naruto would never get over the habit of giving annoying nicknames to the people he knew.

Sandaime smiled at the blonde, "Yes. I wanted to know the basics of where you traveled and what you learned under Raiden and, I presume, Hisoka."

Naruto sat back thoughtfully, "I told you how I met Raiden, yes?" Raiden groaned even as Sandaime nodded; he hadn't wanted anyone to know of his little moment of kindness. "After that we went to Tsuchi no Kuni to look for Hisoka."

_-Flashback-_

_"Are we there yet?" 6 year old Naruto asked, peering up at Raiden. He watched with interest as the man's eyebrow twitched; he noticed that Rai-nii-san seemed to do that a lot around Naruto. The blonde had asked him about the twitch an hour ago, but Rai-nii-san had only glared at him silently. Naruto pouted and crossed thin arms across his chest; Rai-nii-san was so mean!_

_The blonde had no idea where they were, as Raiden hadn't spoken to him at all beside to tell him orders. Kicking his feet, Naruto trailed behind the older man, his blue eyes fixed on the ground. Had he paid more attention to his surroundings he may have noticed the blur of white and black before he was hauled off the ground like a sack of potatoes. _

_Naruto instantly began yelling for Raiden, all while kicking, biting, and scratching as much of his attacker as he could reach. He was satisfied by the curses muttered by the person behind him. Raiden, who had heard Naruto's cries, ran back only to stop short as he saw who exactly the mysterious attacker was._

_"Hisoka?! What the hell are you doing?" he cried out, rushing up to the two now that his shock was gone. He tugged on one of the hands holding Naruto, dodging a kick and a bite that had come his way. "Let him go!"_

_"Damn Raiden, you've got yourself one wildcat of an apprentice," Naruto heard his attacker say. "This is your apprentice right? You're not about to start some sort of brothel for gay pedophiles, are you?"_

_Raiden sputtered indignantly, which made Naruto wonder what was so bad about whatever his attacker was talking about. Maybe he would ask Rai-nii-san about it when the unknown man put him down…… _

_"No! He's just my apprentice Hisoka, though you might finish him off before I get to teach him anything!" Raiden spat out finally, glaring at his friend for the previous statement. _

_Naruto was finally (finally!) set and he instantly turned to get a look at his attacker. Hisoka was shorter than Raiden by a few inches, and had long, silver-white hair and dark blue eyes. He was dressed in black, traditional Samurai clothing; a Haori and Hakama as well as Gi on his feet. A long, broad sword was strapped to his back. Naruto pouted; Hisoka looked so……wimpy. Why couldn't he have been attacked by a 7 foot muscle giant, or someone cool like that?_

_Hisoka knelt down so he was eye to eye with Naruto and observed the blonde for several minutes. Then he sighed and asked Raiden quietly, "Minato's child, then?"_

_Naruto perked up; the wimpy guy had known his dad? Trying to look innocent and naïve, Naruto kept his ears open._

_Raiden nodded and Hisoka glared at him, "You knew Minato wanted him to stay there!"_

_Raiden growled and spat out, "He was getting beaten, Hisoka! Beaten, and treated like the scum of the Earth. Minato was my best friend, but I would be the first to admit he was a damned, idealistic fool to believe they would treat him like a hero!"_

_Hisoka had paled rapidly when he had heard about Naruto's beatings and shock painted over his features. He had been the one to stop Raiden from going to Naruto earlier, saying that Minato had wanted his son to stay in Konoha. He had never guessed that the villagers would be cruel enough to beat a child. Hisoka passed a hand over his face as he thought grimly 'I guess I can be as idealistic as Minato was.' Hisoka glanced down at an innocent looking Naruto and sighed. It wasn't like they could send the kid back now, even if he had wanted to. _

_"Did you at least tell Hokage-sama we have him now?" he asked Raiden._

_Raiden shifted nervously, "Not exactly."_

_Hisoka took a deep breath, "What do you mean by __not exactly__?!"_

_Raiden laughed uneasily, "That I didn't tell him at all?"_

_Calmly Hisoka lifted a hand and hit Raiden soundly over the head, the thump sound echoing in the empty clearing. He eyed his friend's fallen body for a moment before shrugging and turning to Naruto. He knelt down again to stand eye to eye and smiled at the small blonde boy. _

_"Hello Naruto-kun," he said. "I'm Ryuu Hisoka."_

_-End Flashback-_

Sandaime smiled, "He sounds like quite the character," he said. "I would like to meet him."

Naruto smiled sadly as he answered, "He would have loved to meet you as well Jiji-sama."

Sandaime noted the use of the past tense and the weary looks on both Naruto and Raiden's faces. Tucking the information in the back of his mind he changed the subject, "You met with Hisoka in Tsuchi; then what happened?"

Naruto leaned forward in his seat, "We stayed near Iwagakure for the next year or so, while Raiden and Hisoka started my education."

Raiden cut in roughly, "I taught the brat about chakra; how to use it, how to gather it, how to sense it, the whole shebang. He learned some ninjustu. Hisoka taught him the basics of various weapons; Kunai, Shuriken, Fans, Daggers, Sai, Katana, and Senbon. He was taught two elemental kata; the Wind and the Water, and he knew most of it perfectly by the end of the year. Finally he was taught the basics of stealth, interrogation, and ninja codes."

Sandaime nodded thoughtfully, "A hard schedule for a beginner. It says a lot about your character that you did as well as you did Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled wryly, "Trust me, it didn't go as smoothly as it sounds. Some of the days I was too tired to even get up and eat. I pranked Raiden like hell and drove Hisoka crazy with my whining. I was lucky to have even survived that first year."

Sandaime smiled indulgently but said nothing more on the subject. Instead he continued the conversation, "Where did you go after Tsuchi?"

"We went to Mizu no Kuni; the Mizukage wanted Hisoka-chan for a mission there. We stayed in Kirigakure for about two years. While we were there I perfected the Wind and Water kata, and began and finished Lightening and Fire. Raiden taught me about chakra, ninjutsu, and I began my seals training under him. Hisoka continued to train me in weaponry, with focus on katana, fans, and sai. Together we started to create a sword style to fit my favorite taijustu style; a mix of water and wind kata."

Sandaime raised an eyebrow, "Impressive. I had no idea you were a seals apprentice, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded and pulled out a necklace on a long black cord that had been hanging underneath his shirt, unnoticed by any of the man. On the end was an upside down triangle made from a shimmering red crystal. Delicate strands of Japanese too small to read rimmed the edges of the pendant.

"A Fifth level apprentice?" Kakashi asked incredulously. Even Jiraiya, who was drunk by now, seem surprised.

Sandaime, however, just smiled, "Like father, like son. Minato was also skilled with seals; he would be proud to see that you rose so quickly in such a short amount of time."

Naruto smiled, "It took a lot of pain and hard work to get this far, believe me. I was out for a week after the tests for Fifth level."

Sandaime nodded, "I believe you Naruto-kun. Did anything else happen in Kiri?"

Naruto and Raiden exchanged glances again and the room was silent for a long moment. Finally Naruto sighed and turned back to Sandaime.

"When I was eight I met Kyuubi no Kitsune."

_-Flashback-_

_Eight year old Naruto stared at the creepy, slimy tunnel in confusion. The last thing he remembered was passing out after a particularly hard training session with Raiden. How had he gotten here (wherever here was)? Cautiously Naruto crept down the twisting hallway, wincing when his feet made a squelching, echoing sound when they hit the wet ground. The place was dark and gloomy with dripping pipes and a slimy ceiling. It gave the blonde creeps just looking at it._

_After long minutes of walking Naruto finally reached a dead end. Large, thick bars rose in front of him, their once bronze surface coated over with slime and rust. They were without decoration except for a single, open scroll high above Naruto's head, filled with characters he couldn't make out. Naruto stepped forward hesitantly, until he was only feet away from touching the bars._

_Without warning red eyes appeared in the darkness beyond the cage (for what else could it be?) making Naruto jump heavily. Slowly the eyes came forward until Naruto could make out the cunning muzzle and the enormous body of a crimson red fox. Nine thick tails swirled around the fox's huge body, the tips painted black._

_**"So,"**__ the fox's voice boomed, echoing loudly in the wet corridor, __**"this is my brat captor then."**__ The fox bared its teeth in a horrible, mocking grin that sent shivers down Naruto's spine. __**"That blonde ningen was stupid to believe that such a puny mortal could ever hope to contain Kyuubi no Kitsune!"**_

_Naruto wasn't stupid by any means. This large, scary looking fox was claiming to be Kyuubi – the fox demon that even the tiniest children in Konoha knew ravaged their village eight years ago. There was some sort of seal up at the top of the bars, and the villagers had called him 'demon' many times before Raiden rescued him. He took a deep breath._

_"I'm a container to Kyuubi no Kitsune?" he asked, mostly to himself in surprise. It would explain many things; the hate of the villagers, the fast healing, the sharp senses and fox-like whisker marks. Mind whirling, Naruto looked up to see Kyuubi watching him with interest._

_**"Oh? My host isn't as stupid as I thought,"**__ the fox mused aloud. __**"Come closer mortal."**_

_Naruto scrutinized Kyuubi's face and wicked crimson eyes before lifting his chin and stepping boldly forward. Expecting a slash at his head, Naruto was surprised by the wheezing growl that Kyuubi emitted. It took him a minute to realize it was the fox's version of laughter._

_**"So recklessly foolish, little mortal. But then, you ningen always seem to be that way,"**__ Kyuubi told him, lowering his huge furry body to the ground and resting his muzzle on his large paws. Laying down brought him closer to Naruto's eye level, even thought the fox still had to look down at him._

_"I'm in my mind?" Naruto asked the fox, prepared for his question to remain unanswered. Kyuubi surprised him, yet again, by nodding regally. Naruto pursed his lips in thought. If Kyuubi was sealed into his body, the only person who would have been able to do that would have been Yondaime. Raiden had told him soon after he was rescued that Yondaime was his father, which is why feelings of anger and betrayal coursed through him right now. He could understand the need to defeat Kyuubi, but the thought that his own father had sealed the demon inside of him……Naruto took a deep breath. He needed to stay calm._

_"How did I get here? The last thing I remember is training with Raiden……" he trailed off._

_Kyuubi snorted, __**"You came because I summoned you here,"**__ he said bluntly. __**"Unfortunately for me, I have to have a talk with you. Try not to be too stupid so I don't accidently bash your brains in before we finish."**_

_Naruto bristled but stayed quiet; his three years under Raiden and Hisoka had taught him to keep a grip on his temper in dangerous situations. Kyuubi stared down at him with glittering red eyes before nodding to himself. The giant fox settled down even lower in his cage, obviously getting comfortable. Taking the hint, Naruto sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of the cage and then cranked his neck up to stare Kyuubi in the eyes._

_**"The gold-eyed ningen already told you the blonde mortal was your sire,"**__ Kyuubi started. Naruto absently wondered if Kyuubi ever remembered a human's name, but shook the stray thoughts off; he couldn't afford to be unfocused. __**"What he never told you was the history of his mate, your mother, who was from the Uzumaki clan."**_

_Naruto frowned; what did his mother have to do with any of this? Before he could ask, Kyuubi continued his speech._

_**"The Uzumaki clan was founded in Uzu no Kuni, a land that has been dead many years to the ningen world. The youkai remember it; it was a gathering place for the spring meetings, and it was full of almost intelligent ningen who youkai could tolerate,"**__ coming from Kyuubi, Naruto knew this was a compliment. __**"The Uzumaki clan were well known in the land, and were extremely prosperous. They are the equivalent to the puny village's red-eyed clan, I believe. They also had a bloodline limit: Reiki-Metsuki."**_

_Naruto snorted, "Aura eyes? What an original name."_

_Kyuubi shrugged, __**"I didn't make it up ningen. But back to my story. Reiki-Metsuki weren't as powerful as the red-eyed clan's bloodline, but it had its uses. For one; aura reading is a useful skill in the ningen shinobi business, or so I've heard. The second was that they could read youkai souls and track them just as easily as ningen ones."**_

_Naruto raised an eyebrow. He still didn't see how that was of any importance. Kyuubi gave him a glare, as if sensing his impatience._

_**"When the Uzu wars ravaged Uzu no Kuni into an unrecognizable waste land, what was left of the Uzumaki clan – your mother, her brother and their parents – moved to Konoha. She and her brother became a shinobi there, and her parents died early in the years that they spent there. Apparently she became involved with the blonde ningen and you are the product. Her brother, however, was less inclined to move beyond the Uzu wars that had destroyed life as he knew it. He went after the demon that was discovered to have started the whole conflict: Kyuubi no Kitsune." **_

_Naruto's eyes widened and he made a mental note to research the Uzu Wars as soon as possible. He had no idea what they entailed, and apparently they were important in his family's history._

_**"As I said before, youkai once used Uzu no Kuni to gather for the spring meetings. Your mother's brother had met me there once, and he knew my aura. He tracked me down, to the nest where my mate and two kits were also living."**_

_Kyuubi's eyes burned as he related this part of the story and Naruto was shaking. He could see a murky, possible ending to this and he didn't like the idea of it. He hoped to Kami that he was wrong._

_**"The ningen wouldn't be satisfied by my death. He wanted to make me suffer,"**__ Kyuubi's voice was harsh as he said the last word. __**"He waited until I left to get food for my mate and kits and then attacked. He was skilled; a high ranking animal-mask shinobi, if I'm not mistaken. My mate was weak from the birth of the kits two moons before, and my kits were barely born. They didn't stand a chance."**_

_Kyuubi was silent, and when Naruto looked up at him he noted that if the demon could show softer emotions he might be crying right now. _

_**"I came back to find them slaughtered and a Konoha headband lying near their corpses, torn off during the battle. The day was October 10**__**th**__**."**_

_Naruto breathed in heavily. So his suspicions had been right; his uncle's actions had provoked Kyuubi to attack Konoha. _

_**"Don't get me wrong brat; the murder of my mate and kits moved me to attack your puny village. But I enjoyed every minute of slaughtering those pathetic meat packs, no matter if they were involved or not,"**__ Kyuubi's voice was rough._

_Naruto shuddered – he could never imagine having such bloodlust. It unnerved him: the fact that he could understand Kyuubi and yet be terribly disgusted and fearful of him at the same time. His actions toward Konoha could be justified, but his mindless slaughter of the innocent could not. _

_"What happened to my uncle?" Naruto asked quietly._

_Kyuubi snarled, __**"I don't know. But if I ever find that son of a bitch, I'll make sure he'll die as painfully as I can make possible."**_

_Naruto shivered again. Then, drawing up his courage as some sort of security blanket he asked, "Why are you explaining this to me? And how do you know so much about my mother's family?"_

_Kyuubi sighed, __**"The Uzumaki family has inter-bred with demons before, all of them from my clan, the Kitsune. I kept an eye on them after they moved to Konoha. As for my reasons……I wanted to explain the most obvious obstacle to a decision I am going to ask you to make."**_

_Naruto frowned uneasily; any decision Kyuubi would ask him to make couldn't be a good or easy one. He shifted from one foot to another, considering the consequences, before he said, "Fire away."_

_Kyuubi's eyes glinted as he purred out, __**"I want you to become my heir."**_

_-End Flashback-_

The room was silent for long minutes until Kakashi jumped to his feet, "The demon was lying! I knew Uzumaki Ryoma! He was nothing like that! He would never murder something without purpose!"

Naruto smiled grimly, "Ah, but Kaka-sensei you forget. He did have purpose: vengeance."

Kakashi seemed to be at a loss for words. Jiraiya stood up next to the silver haired Jounin and gently pushed him back into his seat. He sat again and leaned forward, all previous drunkenness abandoned for the somber occasion.

"You're positive this is true?"

Naruto was silent before he said quietly, "Yes, and you will see why later."

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow but Naruto didn't comment, only turned to Sandaime who had been the only to not speak. He frowned when he saw the Hokage's weary face and suddenly comprehension dawned in his mind.

"You knew!" he cried out, all calm forgotten. "How?!"

Sandaime nodded slowly, his eyes old and wise, "Minato-kun had his suspicions against Kushina's brother, and he wrote notes. When Ryoma disappeared after the Kyuubi attack and we didn't find his body among the dead, I made assumptions. Kyuubi's story only confirms it."

"What I don't understand," Kakashi spoke again, his voice low, "is how Kyuubi even knew Ryoma did it! He only found a Konoha headband, how could he have known the culprit?"

"The Uzumaki's placed a swirl on their headbands as a remembrance to their lost country," Naruto explained quietly. "Kyuubi knew Kushina to be with a child, and my grandparent's were dead. It was process of elimination, and his motives weren't hard to guess at, since Kyuubi is blamed for starting the Uzu wars."

Kakashi sighed heavily and Naruto couldn't help but feel pity for his sensei. It must be a shock to learn all of this, and so closely together. Naruto had had more time to accept it.

Sandaime pulled the blonde's focus back on track, "Did you agree?"

Naruto was silent for a moment before nodding slowly.

Sandaime sucked in a surprised gasp and then asked, "How did you become his heir? I thought it was impossible for humans and demons to merge?"

"My mother's family has mated with Kitsune demons in the past – there was just enough demon blood in me for us to merge," Naruto explained. "I gained his blood and chakra, but it……changed me a bit."

Sandaime looked at Raiden over Naruto's head, alarm on his face. However, Raiden shook his head; Kyuubi hadn't taken over Naruto in any way at all. Naruto glanced at the Jounin over his shoulder, and Raiden nodded encouragingly.

Naruto took a deep breath and formed a Ram seal, murmuring, _"__Kousuijun Kai,"_ under his breath as he did so.

The air around Naruto shimmered for a moment and then the blonde stood before them, the high level Genjutsu he had apparently placed over himself gone. Sandaime took the changes in with shocked and intrigued eyes.

Naruto's face hadn't changed much; his whisker marks were darker and deeper, and his eyes had gained slit pupils. His ears had also tapered slightly at the top, and his hair had gained subtle red highlights. However it was the two light blonde tails with white tips trailing behind the blonde that made Sandaime speechless. **(1)**

"Tails?" Jiraiya's voice was choked.

Naruto smiled in amusement at their reactions; Raiden was the only one wholly unsurprised. "Yes, tails. The more chakra of Kyuubi's I can use, the more tails I gain until I reach nine tails as he did. Right now I can only handle around a small amount of his chakra, and only at extreme circumstances. For obvious reasons, I hid the tails when I came to Konoha."

Sandaime nodded. The villagers would have gone berserk if they had seen any sign of Kyuubi influencing Naruto in any way. He eyed the swaying tails with both amusement and shock; hadn't he said when the blonde arrived that Naruto continued to surprise him?

"So, what does this make you?" Kakashi asked in a near whisper.

Naruto shrugged, his eyes cold, "A half-breed; a Hanyou. Caught between the demons and the humans," his voice was flat and factual, with no bitterness hidden underneath the tone. It surprised Kakashi that Naruto could be so blasé about his whole transformation.

Sandaime took a deep breath and then asked, "How long did it take the heir process to complete?"

Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully, "I researched for about three years on how we could break the seal enough to let some of Kyuubi's essence – his substitution for blood – and regulate his chakra through the original seal. After that we decided to try it out. The first two times it didn't work, but the third time, when I was 11, was a success."

Sandaime nodded thoughtfully and another question occurred to him, "Is Kyuubi still……alive then?"

Naruto laughed, "Yes, as much as he can be. We didn't merge souls; we're still two separate beings locked in one body. I _only_ got his chakra and blood; everything else is still his."

"How often does he interact with you?" Sandaime asked, concerned for the boy. Kyuubi was devious and underhanded, someone he didn't like to be around Naruto, whom he thought of as a grandson.

"Whenever he feels like it, or when my whining gets to be too much for him," Naruto said amusement clear in his voice. "The old furball complains, but he's helped me out. He started training me after we merged, mainly so I could get a better hold on the chakra he was regulating to me."

Sandaime nodded again, and rubbed a hand across his face. So many questions and explanations, and too little time……

"What happened after your meeting with Kyuubi, then?" he asked calmly, taking his hand down and placing his pipe in his mouth.

"We went to Kaze no Kuni; Sunagakure specifically. We stayed there until the merging with Kyuubi finished bonding us."

"Naruto finished his taijustu, and perfected his own style, a mix of mainly wind and water elements with some lightening and fire thrown in for surprise," Raiden continued. "He finished most of his training in the sword, sai, and fan, and went deeper into learning the dagger, Senbon, and shorter swords such as Wakizashi. He learned more Ninjutsu, and increased his speed, strength, and stamina until it matched a high Chuunin. He also completed his third and fourth tests in Seals apprenticeship."

Sandaime raised an eyebrow, impressed. It seemed Naruto had come far under the tutelage of Raiden and Hisoka. Probably farther than he would have if he had stayed in Konoha, where no one would have been willing to teach him.

"It was also there that Hisoka died and I met my uncle for the first and last time," Naruto's voice was cool and his eyes were full of icy anger.

_-Flashback-_

_10-year-old Uzumaki Naruto sighed as he followed Raiden over the sandy desert that surrounded Sunagakure for many miles. Hisoka had been called in for a mission, and Naruto had volunteered to come along, bored by too many days and nights with nothing but his research and the mad demon in his head to keep him company. Raiden had gone back to Konoha for one of his yearly reports, and Naruto didn't want to spend the next few days with Hisoka either._

_Hisoka had agreed, since the mission was a simple assassination. Currently they were a day from Sunagakure, and they would arrive at their destination – a lesser, civilian city – in around a half-day's time._

_Naruto glanced up, frowning. He could have sworn he had heard footsteps besides his own and Hisoka's, but when he looked around there was no one to be seen. Feeling the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up, Naruto swung around, positioned in a defensive crouch. _

_Behind him, standing only feet away was a man._

_He was tall, with shaggy auburn red hair and dark brown eyes set deep in his sharp face. His dress was plain and brown civilian clothing, which surprisingly didn't make Naruto relax. Instead his eyes narrowed at the stranger - no civilian would have been able to sneak up on Hisoka and him both; they were extremely sensitive to their surroundings. This guy was more than he looked, Naruto was sure of it._

_"Naruto-kun? What is—" Hisoka's voice cut off abruptly when he saw the man Naruto was glaring at. _

_He looked familiar, but Hisoka couldn't place him. Huffing slightly he placed a hand on the blonde child's shoulder, relieved when Naruto relaxed somewhat. However he kept his guard up; the fox-container was uncannily good at reading people, and if Naruto was still wary of the stranger, than he had good reason to be._

_"Can we help you sir?" Hisoka called out pleasantly to the man. Dark brown eyes turned to him, studying him intently until the stranger dismissed the samurai, turning to stare at Naruto once more._

_"Uzumaki Naruto, correct?" he asked in a raspy voice that sounded like it hadn't been used in years. Naruto's eyes narrowed again and he tensed up._

_"Who wants to know?" he asked boldly. Hisoka mentally groaned; Naruto's mouth was going to get him in trouble one day._

_But the stranger chuckled dryly, "You have Kushina's spirit boy, and Minato's recklessness. A dangerous combination."_

_Naruto's eyes widened, "You knew my parents?"_

_The man nodded slowly, "My name is Uzumaki Ryoma. I'm your uncle."_

_Naruto eyes widened and he took a step backwards, running into Hisoka. Ryoma laughed outright at that, but there was no warmth in it, only dry neutrality. Hisoka was also staring at Ryoma in shock – now he knew why the man had looked so familiar – but he noticed when Naruto began to shake lightly and placed a hand on his shoulder. He stared down at the blonde's bent head, concerned; what about his uncle scared Naruto so much?_

_"You—you—" Naruto stuttered out, trying to get his brain working again so he could find something to say. "How dare you come here?"_

_Ryoma's voice was devoid of emotion, but his eyes were sparking with something unpleasant. Naruto shuddered again; knowing that this man had been the one to set Kyuubi off, the one to set the fox demon's sights on Konoha……_

_"Don't worry, little nephew, I didn't come to beg for your forgiveness. I would like to know how you know of IT, but I suppose you wouldn't tell me no matter how many times I asked," Ryoma said with a dark sneer on his face. _

_Naruto breathed in deeply, and tried to find the courage that had helped him when he met with Kyuubi. Slowly he lifted his eyes to meet Ryoma's, and his uncle could see an edge of steel in the blue._

_He smiled, and Naruto had the funny feeling that the man was smiling truly for once, "It's good to know Kushina's spirit lives on."_

_Ryoma took a step forward, which prompted Hisoka, who had been quietly watching their reunion, to put Naruto behind him. Ryoma gave him a blank look and continued to make his way to the pair, any amount of emotion that had been behind his previous smile gone from both his face and his eyes. _

_"You cannot save him Ryuu Hisoka-san," Ryoma said quietly and he disappeared only to reappear again behind Naruto. Hisoka turned instantly and blocked the sword that would have come swinging down upon the blonde's head. Naruto didn't look afraid, but Hisoka wasn't really surprised by that. Whenever the blonde gathered his courage it was impossible for him to give it up until the battle ended._

_Hisoka looked up into Ryoma's eyes, face deadly and serious, "You will not touch him."_

_Ryoma's mouth twisted somewhere in between a sneer and a smirk as he lifted his blade away from Hisoka's only to attack again, this time quicker. Naruto, however, had seen it coming and rolled out of the way, springing back up into a defensive position. Hisoka instantly moved in on Ryoma, his eyes narrow and his sword fast and deadly. Ryoma growled when he was unable to get at Naruto due to having to defend himself from Hisoka's attacks, but then his eyes gleamed._

_Doing the seals behind his back with his left hand while he continued to fight with Hisoka, Ryoma waited until the opportune moment. When the samurai took a second to catch his breath, he instantly murmured, "__Hitabashiri no Jutsu__."_

_Instantly Ryoma appeared behind Naruto, quickly wrapping an arm around the brat's waist. Hisoka whirled around and stilled when he saw the katana's sharpened edge lying against his apprentice's neck. Ryoma smirked at the despair he could read on the samurai's face, and the tense terror he could sense in his long-lost nephew._

_"Now before that rude interruption," he said coolly, "I was about to tell you why I came out after you after all this time. You see, I had heard rumors of a blonde named Uzumaki Naruto in Kiri and I decided to go back to my dear hometown to see if they were true – if I really did have a nephew. However before I could go to the Hokage I happened to hear a certain guard celebrating the last search for the demon brat. Curious to know who this 'demon brat' was, I asked some innocent questions. To my great surprise I learned that Naruto is Kyuubi no Kitsune."_

_"NO!" Naruto yelled out, his stillness suddenly broken by violent thrashing. "I'm not Kyuubi, I was never Kyuubi! I'm his contanior, his holder! I would never be him!"_

_Ryoma looked down at the blonde head in surprise for a second until cool distaste slid over his features. He smirked and tightened the katana at the brat's neck, rewarded by the sharp intake of breath from the samurai and Naruto's sudden stilling._

_"Now if I may continue," Hisoka murmured. "I instantly set out to find you Uzumaki Naruto, and it took me a year to do so. And now, by killing you, Kyuubi will be dead once and for all, and my vengeance for my village will be fulfilled."_

_The desert was quiet for a moment until Naruto spoke, his voice as low as a whisper, "Why avenge a village that is destroyed?"_

_Ryoma growled and whirled Naruto around, glaring into bright blue eyes and shaking the boy's thin shoulders. "They should have been your village as well! Your monster destroyed them, the families, the crops, the houses, everything! If Kyuubi hadn't destroyed that village in Ame, then they wouldn't have had a reason to attack us!"_

_Naruto's eyes were flat, "Your family wouldn't want this. My mother wouldn't want you to kill her son."_

_Ryoma's face tightened in rage, "Kushina should have wanted it! She should have been there with me, both of us getting our revenge! But Konoha made her weak, soft-hearted. She couldn't stomach vengeance anymore!"_

_Hisoka watched the two converse, slowly sneaking up to them. He could tell what Naruto was doing; he was distracting Ryoma into a rage so that Hisoka would have the chance to sneak up and kill the man. Kushina's brother was obviously somewhat insane, though Hisoka couldn't blame him. Losing a village was the worst thing that could happen to anyone in the Elemental Countries._

_"……she should have never married that good-for-nothing blonde, all he did was drag her down into the dumps, where the rest of Konoha was!" Ryoma said, still ranting in Naruto's face. The blonde looked impassive, but Hisoka caught a spark of fire in his eyes and smiled to himself – insults against his father and his village, even if Naruto didn't like it much weren't tolerated by the blonde._

_Hisoka was only feet away when Ryoma whirled around, growling, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"_

_Hisoka froze; the katana that had previously been at Naruto's neck now swung in his direction, it's tilted point directly facing his heart. Before Hisoka had the chance to move or say anything, Ryoma plunged the sword into chest. He died instantly._

_Naruto watched in horror as Hisoka's lifeless body fell to the ground, his normally fierce dark blue eyes dulling. Time seemed to stop for a moment, and the blonde could only hear the blood pounding in his ears, and the shocked terror that Hisoka's death had brought. His body felt numb and clumsy, his breath wheezing in and out. Then time started again and Hisoka's body fell to the ground with a thump._

_Naruto could never remember rightly what happened after that. He remembered turning, screaming words lost in his memory, to Ryoma and kicking, clawing, and biting any place he could reach, like his meeting with Hisoka so long ago. He could remember the raw pain and anger Hisoka's death had brought, and the endless need to make Ryoma __pay__. He could remember the flailing katana that had nearly sliced his head off a number of times. The rest was a blank, a sea of endless blurred memories all overlapping each other._

_When he came back to himself, he was kneeling next to Ryoma's corpse, whose eyes had been nearly scratched out by Naruto's sharp claw-like nails. The ragged katana slash across his neck had been the thing to kill him, but Naruto had made sure to make the man suffer. Stumbling and clumsy he made his way to Hisoka's corpse._

_He more fell than knelt next to his old sensei. He took in the samurai clothes Hisoka had always loved to wear, the tangled silver-white hair, dirty from desert weather and blood, and the paling blue of the still-open eyes. Naruto sat there, staring at his sensei for a long while until he finally gave up trying to hold it in and dry heaved on the ground next to him, trying to get rid of the disgust and helpless horror at the sight. He had seen death before, but to see it masked over Hisoka's face, which had always been so warm, was horrifying for him._

_Naruto laid in the sand next to the dead body of his sensei for a long time. He didn't want to have to get up, to walk back and explain to Raiden. He wanted to lie here for as long as possible, bury his head in the sand, and hope that maybe the pain would go away._

_-End Flashback-_

The Hokage's room was silent. Naruto's face was closed and shuttered, but his eyes were full of the quiet grief of those who have accepted their loved one's passing. Raiden was also like this, but instead of showing his emotions plainly in his eyes, he hid them behind a mask of ice. Kakashi looked grieved; he had known Hisoka, and to hear about his death in such a way shocked and saddened him. Jiraiya watched Naruto with old, compassionate eyes, wishing that the boy would have never had to go through something like that.

Sandaime, too, watched Naruto. He had had no idea that Hisoka had died, and by the blonde's own uncle. And to think that Naruto had killed using only his bare hands and the lucky strike of a flailing katana……his love for his precious ones was deep, like any good Namikaze. He wished that Naruto would have been spared that pain, but he knew that sometimes a person was forced to go through terrible situations such as Naruto's.

He hesitated before speaking, wondering if he was pushing too fast. However it was getting late and they needed to finish Naruto's story so he said, "And……after that Naruto-kun?"

The somber tension in the room was high as Naruto smiled bitterly, "Why then Jiji-sama……we had a funeral."

_-Flashback-_

_It should have been raining._

_That was the only thought on Naruto's mind as he stared over the crowds of people appearing around the grave. Hisoka's funeral should have been an affair of pouring rain, where the very heavens themselves cried out for the death of such a man. But the weather mocked Naruto by being warm and sunny, the sky without a single cloud in it and the sun beating down upon their heads. _

_There were a lot of people coming. Samurai's, made obvious by their clothes were the main crowd, with a few civilians scattered among them. Raiden stood off to the side, golden eyes dark and sad. Naruto looked away; it had, in some ways, hurt more to see Raiden suffer than to feel his own grief. _

_The crowd's whispers died down as an old monk stood in front of Hisoka's grave, which Hisoka's casket was slowly being lowered into via crane. The monk murmured some words and crossed himself, before bowing low to the grave in thanks for a life well lived __**(2)**__. He then turned to the crowd and called out, "Is there any among us who would like to speak about this man before we let him down into his grave?"_

_No one spoke for a minute until Naruto said in a choked voice, "I will speak."_

_The monk nodded, sympathy in his dark eyes as he saw the pain in Naruto's face. He stepped aside, robes swishing, and the blonde took his place at the head of grave. He stared out at the expectant faces, eyes weary and grieved._

_"Ryuu Hisoka was my sensei," he started slowly. There were some sympathetic looks and shushed whispers until he went on again. "He was a brave, compassionate person who never gave up and never backed down. He also smoked cigarettes, even when I asked him not to, got himself into reckless situations for the fun of it, and was blind-sided by his need to save people," there were some gasps at how disrespectful Naruto was being at his own sensei's funeral, but the blonde ignored them. "He was a person. He lived and loved and now he is dead. I loved him as a brother and a mentor, and the image of his face will be carved into my heart for my entire life. I ask you to remember him, to never forget Ryuu Hisoka, and perhaps, someday in the future we will be able to leave our grief behind us and move on. For now, though, I will cry for a man's life cut off in its prime and for the death of someone who I loved very dearly."_

_The crowd was silent as Naruto went back to his place. The monk spoke several more chants and prayed over the grave one last time before he bowed to the people, asking them to leave so the casket could be lowered in solitude. The crowd drifted away and Naruto moved to a tree at the edge of the graveyard, leaning against it and closing his eyes. He breathed in and out, trying to control his breathing. His speech had been hasty and jumbled, but it was what he felt. Pouring out that kind of emotion left his heart aching. _

_He looked up when he felt a hand land on his head, and Raiden was looking down at him with understanding eyes. Naruto gave him a faint smile and then hoisted himself to his feet. The two walked back to the newly dug grave to give one last talk to their friend and comrade._

_-End Flashback-_

Everyone's heads were bowed as Naruto finished summing up the memory; even Raiden looked depressed after this one. Sandaime was watching Naruto with sad and proud eyes; to think that he had come through that hard point in his life and was moving on……he was a remarkable boy. Minato would have been proud.

"Then?" Kakashi's voice was soft and heavy, and Naruto stared at his bowed head for a long moment with compassion. Then the blonde sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Then we went to Rai no Kuni and we stayed there until I decided to travel back to Konoha. I had to re-learn Chakra control so I could keep my new chakra in check, and after that I perfected my sword and taijutsu styles, learned more ninjutsu, learned more about stealth and interrogation techniques, started to a fan-style, learned codes, increased my speed and strength, learned various strategies, and finished my fifth level in seals."

Naruto continued on, "Earlier in the month Raiden asked if I wished to return to Konoha to become a Genin. I agreed, but Raiden stayed behind to close things up for us and sit around on his lazy ass," here a glare was given to a scowling Raiden. "While I was traveling I met Jiraiya, who was peeping (like usual) and I apparently became his apprentice without realizing it. The rest, Jiji-sama, you know."

Sandaime nodded and he started to connect all the information about Naruto's skills that the blonde had given him. Naruto was obviously skilled in weaponry and taijutsu, was probably good in ninjutsu as well due to his large chakra, and was skilled in seals. Overall he was fairly balanced out, with weak points in Genjutsu, interrogation, and probably strategy.

"I'd say you are somewhere between a High level Chuunin and a middle level Jounin due to your hard work and years of training," Sandaime mused thoughtfully. "However you'll have to stay with your team right now; you can't become a Chuunin without taking the Exams at least once. I will do my best to give you all challenging missions, mainly for Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun's sake. As far as I can tell Sakura-chan doesn't wish to have dangerous missions," the old man gave a humorless chuckle. "The poor girl's going to get a wake-up call soon."

Naruto nodded during Sandaime's speech, only a little surprised to hear that he ranked so high. Kakashi and Jiraiya were both gaping, and Raiden was smirking with pride for his student (not that he'd ever admit it).

Naruto looked out the window and was surprised to see that the moon was starting to rise. His story must have taken longer than he thought. Slowly he raised himself to his feet and bowed shallowly to Sandaime.

"May we go now Jiji-sama? I need to _sleep_ because some fool Jounin sensei of mine decided to have our Genin test at _6:30 am_."

Kakashi chuckled nervously, his previous shock forgotten at his student's acid tone and sharp glare. Sandaime smiled at the two and Raiden and Jiraiya both watched in gleeful amusement, both having been attacked by Naruto's sharp tongue before.

"Yes you may go Naruto-kun," Sandaime said with a chuckle. "I didn't realize that it was so late."

Naruto nodded and went over to Raiden, whispering in his ear. The older man nodded a few times until Naruto sent him a smile and then going over to Jiraiya to whisper in his ear. Kakashi, annoyed by being kept out of the loop, watched the three with a frown.

"I'll see you in the morning Kaka-sensei!" Naruto chirped happily, pulling Raiden out of the door after him. The three men left inside stared after them for a minute until Sandaime shook his head and took another puff out of his pipe.

"That boy never changes."

* * *

Sleeping alone, except under doctor's orders, does much harm. Children will tell you how lonely it is sleeping alone. If possible, you should always sleep with someone you love. You both recharge your mutual batteries free of charge. (Marlene Dietrich)

* * *

Naruto and Raiden sped to Training Ground 7, both enjoying the night wind rushing to meet them and the free speed they were traveling at. However the run stopped all too soon, as the pair approached the training ground. Naruto's sharp eyes sought out a good tree in the dark night and smiled as he saw one – a large oak with thick, strong branches that were broad enough to hold a man twice his size. Quickly he motioned to Raiden and the two made their way up to the tree, each settling on their individual branch for some sleep. 

Ever since his merging with Kyuubi, Naruto had always felt more comfortable sleeping outside, especially in a wooded area. Trees were the best spots, where he always got the most restful sleep. The blonde attributed as a fox thing and left it at that. Since Raiden didn't mind sleeping outside either, and neither of them liked to be apart for long after Hisoka's death, they usually found a tree and slept outside together.

Naruto felt more than saw the black creeping over the edges of his eyes and smiled. Before long he was peacefully asleep, Raiden nearby, with the moon rising steadily above Konoha.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** This time I tried not to do a cliffhanger, so I didn't start in on the Genin test just yet. That'll be Chapter 4. Anyhow, I'm happy with this chapter, even if Uzumaki Ryoma did pop out of nowhere while I was writing it. Its only Chapter 3 and my story is already running away, with me trying to keep up……Anyhow, thanks for all your awesome reviews; I love to hear your responses, so keep 'em coming! Chapter 4 should be out in a week or two. Ah, and for some basic info on the _Uzu Wars_ mentioned, please check my homepage. 

**A Note on Kyuubi:** I know that Kyuubi having family attacked is clichéd and over-done, but really what else can get a demon enraged enough to attack a village? Please note that just because he had a good reason to go into a rage doesn't excuse that he killed hundreds of innocent people; I'm not saying that Kyuubi is going to turn into a giant fluff ball and love all humans all the sudden, because he's not.

_Kousuijun Kai (High Level Release):_ A release technique for high level or difficult Genjutsu, usually around A rank or higher.  
_Hitabashiri no Jutsu (Running swiftly technique):_ A Jutsu that allows a person to travel at five times their regular speed.

**(1)** Yes, this is a somewhat Creature!Naruto fanfiction. The tails will pop up from time to time, but Naruto can hide them easily enough, as you see.  
**(2)** There isn't a specific religion mention in _Naruto_ so I just sort of……made one up? Please excuse any mistakes.

**SPOILERS (Naruto Shippuden): **Grrr……the cliffhanger on Chapter 381 is so annoying. Anyone got any idea who Pein is, because I've seriously got nothing. And Jiraiya! Ero-sama has to live! Goddamnit Jiraiya, if you die I'm sending Tsunade into the afterlife to kick your ass!


	4. In Which Team 7 Fights

**Author's Notes:** Well here's chapter 4, minna! Enjoy!

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Four: In Which Team 7 Fights**

Dear Journal,

Well, I met my team. They're not bad, per se, but they are a little strange. It was surprising that I managed to end up on the same team as Itachi-sensei's brother – who would have thunk it, huh? – not to mention the pink haired fangirl. If she doesn't grow up soon, though, I'll probably commit suicide – there's no way I'll be able to put up with her squealing for that long. Kakashi is alright (even if he _is_ a tardy, perverted, lazy-ass) though I'm not sure how much he'll be able to teach me……Rai-nii-san already has taught me a lot about Jutsu and Chakra, and I've heard that that is his specialty……

Anyhow, I got to see Itachi-sensei again! Woot! He's still as silent as ever, but I could tell he was happy to see me, 'cause I'm just cool like that! Stupid basterd would probably never admit it, since he has to be the cold and unfeeling Uchiha who can never get the stick out of his ass. Hm……anything else? Nope. Guess I'll just sleep then……

(Excerpt from the Journal of Uzumaki Naruto, age 14)

* * *

**Konohagakure: Hi no Kuni  
****The 7****th**** of May**

Naruto woke to the early morning sun flitting across his closed eyelids. He groaned and shifted, trying to get away from the sun's light, but the stupid star wouldn't leave him be. Finally he opened an eye, squinting at the bright light, and sat up in his tree branch, stretching and yawning loudly. Rubbing a hand across his eye he looked up to see Raiden was awake also, watching him with amusement. The Jounin was well aware his apprentice hated mornings.

"What time is it?" Naruto asked his voice still thick was sleep.

Raiden shrugged, "It should be around 6:30, but your teammates haven't showed up yet, so I can't be sure."

However even as he said that, Uchiha Sasuke walked into the training ground, his black eyes focused and his body tense. Haruno Sakura followed close behind him, looking at the Uchiha with adoring eyes. Naruto snorted when he saw that her hair had been brushed till it shimmered and she had put on what looked to be a brand new dress. Obviously she cared more for fashion than being prepared. Rubbing the back of his head he looked up at Raiden in question. The Jounin shrugged and the blonde sighed and then jumped down to the ground lightly. Sakura screamed lightly and Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Ohayo Gozimasu," Naruto said with another jaw cracking yawn. "Kaka-sensei will probably be late again."

Sakura's eyes burned and she muttered violently under her breath, "He'll get what's coming to him if he _dares_ to show up late today……"

Far away a perverted Jounin shivered at a sudden feeling of doom.

Naruto shivered lightly – Sakura was scary when she got that glint in her eye……He jumped when the girl turned to him, but luckily the angry fire in her eyes had dimmed down. Now she looked curious and she tilted her head to the side, making long pink hair shift over her shoulder.

"What were you doing in a tree Uzumaki?" she asked.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, wondering why she was interested, "I slept there."

Sakura looked surprised, but she didn't ask any more questions, only turned away from him with a huff. Naruto shrugged and glanced over at Sasuke, frowning when he saw that the Uchiha was studying him intently.

He shifted uncomfortably under the steady gaze for a minute before snapping out impatiently, "_What_?!"

"Aniki said to remember 'underneath the underneath'," Sasuke said in a monotone. Naruto cringed – he had entirely forgotten about the comment he had made to Sasuke yesterday with all the hubbub with Jiji-sama and his past. He awkwardly rubbed a hand on the back of his neck, wondering how he was going to explain this without giving himself away……

Sasuke spoke again, "How do you know Itachi?"

_-Flashback-_

_Eight year old Uzumaki Naruto peered out curiously at his new roommate – the boy he had found lying in his own blood while walking a week ago was sitting calmly on the steps, his unusual red eyes closed. A long ponytail of dark hair swished in the soft breeze, and a sword lay by the boy's still hand. Naruto winced when the image of the clean, calm boy was over-ridden by the blood-stained, dirty, and pained stranger he had first met. Shaking the double image away Naruto crept closer silently, wide blue eyes fixed on the stranger's back. _

_"I can sense you there, Uzumaki-kun," the boy said softly, never opening his eyes. Naruto pouted but bounced up to the stranger all the same, grinning widely._

_"Sugoi! How did you do it, Onii-chan?"_

_Red eyes opened and looked at him blankly, "Your chakra is well-masked, but not enough. It is too heavy to be masked completely."_

_Naruto tilted his head to the side, "Heavy?" he asked. _

_"Your chakra is thicker and heavier than most of the shinobi I've met. I'm guessing that it would make it difficult to hide," the boy said calmly. He turned and continued to stare out across the small clearing their house was located in and the forest surrounding it. _

_Naruto nodded carefully. The boy was so smart! The blonde looked up at him and realized that he didn't even know the name of the person he had saved. "Ne, ne what's your name Onii-chan?"_

_The boy looked down at him for several moments before saying, "I am Uchiha Itachi."_

_-End Flashback-_

Naruto was silent until he sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. "I traveled a lot with my guardian, before coming to Konoha. When I eight and I lived in Mizugakure no Sato, I met Itachi. He was badly injured from wounds he received during a mission……he had to stay with us for about a half-year. After that he came back to visit from time to time." That was mostly the truth. He didn't need to mention that Itachi had trained him.

Sasuke frowned but nodded; he remembered there was a time when Itachi had disappeared for months. It had been several months before the Uchiha massacre **(1)** and he had returned a week before the mass murder had happened. His brother had never told him why he was gone, or where he had been, and any attempt to ask was met with silence so Sasuke had stopped questioning. He eyed Naruto suspiciously – his teammate was telling the truth, but some part of Sasuke kept whispering that there were some things the blonde wasn't telling.

"Did you know what his mission was?" he asked interestedly.

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly, "I never asked. Itachi-sensei wouldn't have told me anyhow."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow – Naruto knew his brother well. It was only after years that he himself had been able to finally understand that Itachi wouldn't answer questions he didn't want to, or those dealing with his ANBU job. He eyed Naruto curiously; Itachi had seemed in a good mood when he came home last night, especially after he told his brother who exactly his teammates were. He wondered if Naruto coming home could have been the cause of it.

Sasuke shrugged away his thoughts and sighed tiredly before he sat down at the bottom of the tree Raiden was still hiding in, closing his eyes. Sakura crouched down nearby and, with a shrug, Naruto leapt into a low tree branch overhanging the two. Soon all of them were dozing, trying to make the time pass by quickly.

The sun rose higher in the sky and there was sill no sign of Kakashi. Sasuke and Sakura were both half-asleep, although Naruto thought he kept hearing mumbled threats at their sensei from Sakura……He sighed, shifting on his branch and casting a look up at Raiden. The Jounin just laughed silently – he was all too used to Kakashi's tardy ways.

Finally (finally!) a poof echoed across the training ground and Kakashi stood there, his head in his orange book as usual, and a hand held up in a wave.

"Yo," he crowed out. "How are my little minions this fine morning?"

"YOU'RE LATE!!" Sakura screeched, flinging herself to her feet with a finger pointing at Kakashi accusingly. Naruto winced and covered his ears – the girl had a set of lungs on her, for sure. Kakashi looked around and then pointed at himself as if to say 'who me?' making Naruto stifle a snort and Raiden laugh quietly above them all. Sasuke cracked open an eye and glared at his tardy sensei with the Uchiha Death Glare of Doom. Kakashi, however, didn't seem to be affected.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "Aa. Well you see there was this little chipmunk – such a cute thing too! – and it got lost from his mother. Well, being the upstanding citizen I am, I had to help the chipmunk find his mommy, but first I had to track her down. And after that there was this kitten stuck in a tree……"

"Kami, Kakashi you suck at excuses," Raiden swung down from his tree branch easily, grinning slightly. "We can all tell you're bull-shitting. Next time try to think of something that _might have possibly happened_ instead."

"Ah, Raiden. You came to watch then?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile, ignoring his friend's advice.

"Who's this?" Sasuke interrupted, his black eyes narrowing in on Raiden. To the man's credit, he didn't even so much as fidget. Not many people could stand the Uchiha Death Glare of Doom, even when it wasn't perfected yet.

"Tanaka Raiden, that gaki's," he pointed a finger at Naruto, "guardian."

Sasuke and Sakura both looked surprised. They had both heard Naruto mention a guardian earlier in his conversation with Sasuke, but it was still a shock to meet him in person. They could see where Naruto got some of his attitude from now.

"Anyhow, I believe the ducklings have a test to complete, do they not?" Kakashi said, clapping his hands together. The three looked at him in disbelief, but the Jounin ignored them. "Aa……what was it I wanted you to do again……? Hm, yes. You need to get these," he held up a hand with two silver bells dangling between his fingers, "before the test ends at 2:00. If you get a bell, then you pass."

"Why are there only two bells when there are three of us, sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Well……the person who _doesn't_ get a bell will get sent back to the Academy," Kakashi answered cheerfully.

Naruto's head snapped up and he stared at Kakashi for a long moment, ignoring Sakura's wails and Sasuke's sharp intake of breath. Then he just smiled and nodded – there was something more to this, he could tell, but he would need more time to figure it out. Kakashi eye smiled at his students.

"You need to come at me with killer intent to get them," he said calmly. He glanced over at Raiden who nodded and moved back to the tree he had slept in the night before, watching the drama interestedly.

"But we could kill you sensei!" Sakura cried out agitatedly.

Naruto snorted, "You must be very arrogant, Haruno, to think you could harm a Jounin who's been doing this for longer than you've been alive. You couldn't scratch him if you went at with all the killer intent in the world."

Kakashi smiled at him, "Defending me, Naruto-kun? How very flattering……"

The blonde stared at him flatly before saying in a monotone, "Don't _make_ me smack you Kaka-sensei, and _no_ that wasn't an invitation you pervert!" Naruto grumbled under his breath.

Sasuke watched the two with bemusement, while Sakura just glared hotly, her face flushed. Kakashi raised his hands in an 'I surrender' sign and then turned to his other two students.

"You should remember blondie's words. The test starts in 3……2……1!"

Two blurs passed by Kakashi as his students hid. The Jounin nodded with approval; their hiding spots were good for beginners at least. He looked up and nearly fell over when he saw Naruto still standing in the same spot, a puzzled frown on his face.

"Kakashi-sensei," he said seriously. "There's something you're not telling us."

Kakashi wasn't surprised Naruto was the first to figure it out – the boy was an Uzumaki, and they could spot a lie a mile off, with or without their eyes. However Naruto had to figure it out this little test himself – if he didn't, then the lesson would be useless.

So Kakashi just smiled and said cheerfully, "Now why would I do that, Naruto? Does this look like the face of someone who would lie to his own, dear little students?" he pointed at his masked face. Naruto snorted.

"That would be a better line if I could _see_ your face, sensei," he said acidly. Then with a shrug and a sigh he disappeared from sight. Kakashi frowned when he realized he could only barely sense the blonde, but shrugged. The brat had had a lot of training, it was only natural he would be somewhat better than his teammates.

Kakashi ducked when he sensed a barrage of kunai and shuriken flung at his head and swirled to meet a high kick from Sasuke. The kid was good, he could acknowledge that. Good enough for him to not have time to pull out his book and to fight a little more seriously. However Sasuke was still an amateur – he didn't have a chance against someone as battle-trained as Kakashi. Soon the Uchiha was buried neck up in dirt, glaring for all he was worth and squirming violently.

"Looks like you're like them after all, ne Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi said, crouching down so he was closer to the boy's eye-level. Honestly, he was too reminded too much of himself when he looked at the Uchiha – he would have to go to the Stone today and pray for forgiveness from Minato's soul. He didn't know would his sensei could have stood having such arrogance on his team. He would have to try and break down Sasuke – and perhaps Naruto could help him. Sakura too, when she grew out of her infatuation.

Kakashi started walking to where he could sense Sakura, pulling out his book as he went. Naruto's faint presence was following him, but Kakashi didn't mind. He'd deal with the blonde after he took out Sakura – with the brat's extensive training the fight would be a little more even. He grinned wickedly under his mask as he finally saw his only girl student, watching carefully in the wrong direction. He brought his hands together silently and formed a Genjutsu.

In the years to come he would still say that the Genjutsu of Sasuke had to be one of his best. It wasn't a complicated one, but the result was oh so satisfying. He'd never seen a girl faint so fast before. Despite that, it was also somewhat disappointing – honestly, this was the smartest Kunoichi of her grade, reduced to unconsciousness by a simple Genjutsu? Kakashi shook his head and sighed; Sakura would probably take more work than Sasuke and Naruto combined.

"You can come out now blondie," he called out disinterestedly, nose stuck in his orange book yet again. Naruto grumbled but leapt down from his hiding place and stood a few yards away, facing Kakashi. Kakashi glanced at him from over his book – the blonde's face was calm and focused. He grinned and slipped his book into his pouch; this was going to be fun.

"Taijutsu," Kakashi said, slipping into his own stance. "Let's see what those years did for you, Naruto."

The blonde grinned and slipped into a stance completely unfamiliar to Kakashi. His arms were spread wide, one reaching out above his head with the palm facing Kakashi and the other dipping below his waist, facing the opposite direction. It left his entire torso unprotected, which made the Jounin wonder how effective this style of Naruto's really was. Shrugging he waited for the blonde to make the first move.

With a speed that was hardly natural for a Genin, Naruto rushed at him, upward arm sweeping down to take a punch at him. Kakashi blocked it, but frowned when the other arm came rushing upwards. He jumped away quickly, but Naruto just followed, his movements fluid and fast. Soon the two were locked in a Taijutsu match.

Kakashi, Naruto conceded, was good. He had to be of course – he had been an ANBU Captain, and he was a high ranking Jounin. Naruto, however, was determined to win, if only to pass and get his teammates passed as well. Suddenly an idea lit in his prankster styled mind and he smirked slowly. Kakashi, suddenly fearing for his life, gulped but continued to fight on bravely. He really, _really_ didn't like the look on that brat's face.

Naruto dove in against Kakashi, aiming a high kick for his chest and sweeping an arm underneath his feet. Kakashi stumbled, only for a moment, but it was enough for Naruto to execute his plan. He jumped away from Kakashi a second later, slipping the stolen object into his own pouch. He would keep it there until he had a chance to reveal it……

Kakashi groaned under his breath as Naruto came at him _yet again_, this time with a swift, graceful kick that he recognized as a wind move. The brat's elemental style was effective – it only had a few weak points and he could cover or fix them up easily. And Naruto, unfortunately for him, was a fighting machine. He just kept coming back, no matter how many hits he took.

However Naruto did something differently this time – he flicked his hand and dozens of shiny, thin senbon made their way out of his sleeve. Surprised, Kakashi didn't have a chance to move before they pinned him down to the ground. The Jounin was instantly trying to get out from underneath them, but he found that, while senbon were small, when thrown hard enough they were more effective than kunai. However if he worked hard enough he should be free……

Naruto sauntered up to him, a fox-like grin on his face, which made Kakashi scowl. Usually that move would have been a piece of cake for him to dodge – it was just that it came from one of his _students_ that had surprised him so much. Naruto reached down and plucked a bell from his belt, dangling it in one hand. Then he drew out the item he had stolen earlier.

Kakashi's heart stopped when he saw his beloved _Icha, Icha Paradise_ in Naruto's hands. When had the brat gotten……he got a flashback of the high kick that had made him stumble. He would have had the chance to slip a hand in Kakashi's pack without him noticing. Kakashi glared at Naruto's hands, wishing that looks really could kill so the brat would drop dead and he could have his beloved book and tattered pride back.

"I'll let you have your book if you pass all three of us, Kaka-sensei," Naruto said with a grin. "And if you refuse……well I know a pretty handy Fire Jutsu I could use……"

Kakashi paled – his precious Icha, Icha _burned_?! The entire idea was horrendous. And Naruto knew he would do anything to make sure that didn't happen, the sneaky brat……He sighed heavily and glared at the still grinning Naruto.

"You would have all failed," he gritted out. "I can't just _pass you_, Naruto, especially when you haven't gotten the point of the test yet. I will, however, give you one more chance to prove yourself."

Naruto considered it. Kakashi had given up trying to wiggle his way out of the senbon trap, but instead just kept an eye on his orange book. Finally his blonde student shrugged.

"All right, that's fair," with a flick of his hand, the Senbon came flying to him. Kakashi's eyes narrowed - _chakra strings?_ – but he decided he'd figure out the mystery later. Icha, Icha flew up at him, and Kakashi grabbed it and stuffed it gently into the bottom of his pack. He would be taking no chances this time.

"I'll be seeing you, Kaka-sensei," Naruto tossed the bell he had stolen back to his teacher with a grin and then he disappeared. Kakashi sighed – it looked like there might be a possibility he'd be passing his team this time.

Damn.

* * *

Executing a plan takes one part patience, one part strategy, and two parts dumb luck. (Anonymous)

* * *

Naruto hurried to where he could sense Sasuke, reminding himself to come back for Sakura when Kakashi moved. If he had this figured out right, then they would all need to involved in the attack. 

He snickered when he came to the Uchiha – seeing him buried up to the neck like that was too funny not to. Sasuke sent him a glare, but Naruto ignored him; he was too used to Itachi's, which were much scarier. Patiently he helped pull his teammate from the dirt, all while explaining what he had figured out while stalking Kakashi.

"It makes no sense for Kaka-sensei to send back only one of us back to the Academy – there haven't been any two man teams for a while now. And we could never get the bell by ourselves – but we _might_ be able to if we work together. Plus I'm betting that's what Kaka-sensei wants us to do – if we work together as a _team_ we may get passed, even if we _don't_ get a bell," he explained quickly, brushing dirt off of Sasuke's clothes.

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully, shrugging of Naruto's hands, "That might be right……having only two bells would distract us and set against each other. It was a clever plan."

Naruto nodded with a grin, "Yeah. But, c'mon, we need to get Haruno," he started back towards where the girl was still unconscious, relieved to know that Kakashi had moved away. Sasuke moved behind him, his mind whirring with plans against their sensei. When they reached the fallen girl, it took a while to wake her. Thankfully, seeing Sasuke convinced her that the bloody and dying illusion she had seen really was a fake and make her ready to beat the shit out of Kakashi. Naruto was impressed – he would've thought she would be timid about beating their sensei.

The three sat in the clearing, trying to come up with a quick way to get Kakashi that involved all of them. Finally, after a lot of argument and debate, they came up with the simplest plan they could – distract and capture. After finalizing the details, they split up and headed out to execute it.

Kakashi waited calmly in the middle of a small clearing, his eyes fixed on his book. He could sense Sasuke and Naruto nearby, though they seemed to just be watching, and Sakura didn't seem to be with them. He frowned underneath the mask as he felt a small ruffle of chakra, but otherwise didn't do anything. Only when dozens of Naruto and Sasuke clones poured out of the trees did he move.

Ducking and weaving he avoided most of the hits aimed by the clones, searching for the real ones. His eyes widened when he hit a clone and it vanished in a poof of smoke. He hadn't realized that the clones were _Kage Bunishen_ – did Raiden teach Naruto that, or had Sasuke obtained the Jutsu somehow? Putting the question in the back of his mind to ask later, he continued to destroy the clones. Distracted as he was, he didn't notice the barrage of weapons until the last second.

Shuriken and Kunai flew past him. Kakashi huffed – he was having a hard time avoiding both the clones – who were nearly as good as their real counterparts – and the continual stream of weapons. His head whipped around as he caught a sense of Sakura's chakra, but all he saw was a tree with weapons quivering in the bark. Frowning he returned his attention to the battle, relieved to see that most of the clones had been destroyed and the barrage of weapons had stopped.

Surprisingly, however, the rest of the clones disappeared instantly only seconds later, leaving only the scattered kunai behind. Kakashi eyed the now silent forest suspiciously. All they had done was attack him……what was the point of that. His hand strayed to his belt where the bells were and he looked down quickly when he realized that they weren't there. Instead there were just two tattered strings. _'How the hell……'_ Kakashi thought, untying the useless pieces of string from his belt.

He yelled out, "Alright, come out now, little ducklings!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura jumped down from the nearby trees, all of them looking pleased with themselves (well except for Sasuke, but that was nothing unusual). Kakashi eyed them curiously. Naruto, reading his curiosity, grinned foxily and held up the two bells, now attached to a much shorter string.

"When we were attacking you, Sakura set up weapons. Her aim was supposed to be the best of the kunoichi in our year, so we had her aim to cut off the bells while we were attacking you. Then she would quickly go to the place where they landed, collect them, and we would disappear."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. It was a good plan, for beginners, and it showed promise that these three could work together. He sighed – he didn't _want_ to pass them, but they had completed his test……

"Fine," he said, sounding more petulant than he was willing to admit. "You pass."

Sakura screeched happily, Naruto grinned, and even Sasuke managed a small smirk for the special occasion. Kakashi sighed. Well this was his team, and he was stuck with them for better or for worse……

"We'll meet again tomorrow to start on missions. Ja, ducklings," then he disappeared in a poof of smoke, intent on going home and drowning himself in porn.

* * *

Night is always the best time for reminiscence. (Unknown)

* * *

Naruto knocked on the Uchiha mansion door, trying not to shiver. The damn building would just _have_ to look even creepier in the dark wouldn't it? The door creaked open (making the blonde have another violent shiver) and Itachi was standing there, a black eyebrow raised when he saw Naruto outside. The blonde smiled at him easily, nerves easing now that he was with a familiar person. 

"You want to go for a walk?" he asked quietly. Itachi considered it for a moment and then nodded silently, going outside and closing the door gently behind him. The pair made their way down the long driveway of the Uchiha Estate, both quiet.

The night was pretty – typical of spring-summer weather in Konoha. The stars were clear, and a delicate crescent moon rose into the blue-black sky. A gentle warm breeze wafted throughout the village, stirring up the grass and leaves. It was a perfect night.

They walked side by side on the main road, ignoring the curious and scornful looks of the few villagers and shinobi that were still out. Naruto's eyes had moved to look at the sky, his arms folded behind his comfortably. Itachi stared straight ahead, dark eyes focused on something no one else could see.

"Sasuke knows about us," Naruto said quietly. "I told him some of it today, before Kaka-sensei showed up."

Itachi nodded, "What exactly did you tell him?"

Naruto snorted, "That you stayed with us when you were injured for several months, and that you came back to visit sometimes. I also told him that I had no idea what your mission was, or what you had been doing when you got injured."

Itachi smirked slightly, but said nothing. That was a lie; he had told Naruto about the mission only after six months of knowing and training him.

_-Flashback-_

_"Ne, Itachi-sensei, remember when we first met?" Naruto asked, twirling a long piece of grass in his fingers. His eyes absently watched a fluffy white cloud pass above the pair's heads. They were taking a break from a long training session, and Naruto was covered in sweat and dirt. However his face was peaceful and his eyes were calm and thoughtful. His breathing had evened only a half-hour after they had stopped fighting._

_Itachi grunted in response to the blonde's question._

_"How did you get so injured? You never told Rai-nii-san, even when he pestered you for the first couple months."_

_Itachi considered the little boy in front of him, wondering if perhaps this was one last attempt by Raiden to get information out of him. But then Naruto wouldn't have mentioned the Jounin's name, so Itachi wouldn't have been reminded that he still wanted to know……But could Naruto handle knowing? Itachi watched the blonde for a moment longer, and he conceded that perhaps he could. Itachi had never been one to open up, but Naruto always seemed to change people whether he meant to or not._

_"I had a mission," Itachi murmured, watching with amusement as Naruto's head whipped around. He obviously hadn't expected the Uchiha to say anything. "I was to meet with a rouge ninja group that had been reported by sources to have plans against Hi no Kuni and Konoha, and try to infiltrate their group. However, they figured out that I was against them and fought me. I, obviously, lost."_

_Naruto's eyes widened and he murmured, "Arigato Gozimasu Itachi-sensei. You didn't need to tell me."_

_-End Flashback-_

Itachi shook his head wryly. He would have never told anyone about that, not even Sasuke whom he loved very dearly. Naruto was a one of a kind – he had managed to open up the unbreakable Uchiha without even trying.

"Will you let him know the truth, in time?" Itachi said softly, his eyes traveling up to the sky.

Naruto shrugged, "If you haven't told him any of this, I don't know why I should. It involves you, so I won't tell him unless you want him to know. _Do_ you want him to know about our past?" Bright eyes turned to look at him curiously.

Itachi thought for a moment, and then nodded slowly, "Perhaps, when the time is right, I will tell him, in detail."

Naruto grinned and turned away, looking back up at the stars. Itachi watched him for a moment, glad that the blonde couldn't see the slight softening of his eyes. Naruto knew his face so well that he would instantly be able to tell what Itachi was feeling. The Uchiha shook his head slightly and followed his companions gaze up to the sky. _'Naruto-kun has come far since the last time I saw him'_ he mused, remembering the last visit he had had with the blonde – four years ago, only a week after Hisoka's death.

_-Flashback-_

_Itachi swung down from a tree and landed lightly in Naruto and Raiden's camp, black eyes searching for the people he had come to visit. He saw a tuft of blonde hair on the bank of the nearby river and instantly headed there, calm and silent._

_"Itachi-sensei is back?" Naruto said, not even looking up at him. Itachi felt his mouth twitch into a half-smirk – the blonde had come far under his training, to be able to sense Itachi so easily._

_"Aa," he said, sitting next to Naruto. "Where are Raiden and Hisoka-san?"_

_He noticed the blonde's stiffening at Hisoka's name. He frowned and leaned forward, taking a closer look at the blonde's face. Naruto's features was cold and impassive, but his eyes were swirling and chaotic, a mess of dark blue that reminded Itachi of storm clouds. Itachi placed one pale finger under Naruto's chin, examining his hard face and pained eyes curiously._

_"What happened?" he asked quietly, black eyes locking once again with blue._

_Naruto's impassive façade slipped for a moment and Itachi's breath hitched at the pain etched all over his student's face. Naruto's whole body shuddered and his hands clenched into fists at his sides, so tightly curled that blood dripped out from where his fingernails pierced skin. _

_"Hisoka……" Naruto's voice choked on the word and he closed his eyes. "Hisoka died, Itachi-sensei. Last week."_

_Itachi stiffened. He had known gotten to know Hisoka well over the last couple of years. They had become friends – nothing like Naruto and Itachi, but they had a certain understanding. Hisoka was everything he was not: outgoing, passionate, righteous, and optimistic; a hero. To think that he had died was inconceivable to Itachi – people like Hisoka didn't __die__. But Itachi was nothing if not rational, and if Naruto said that the Samurai had died then Hisoka was truly gone._

_"How?" Itachi said his voice low and hard. The stupid person that had done this would regret it as soon as Itachi found him. After all – Uchiha protected the few they loved obsessively._

_Naruto's eyes opened, this time the pain in them even more pronounced, "Uzumaki Ryoma killed him with a katana through the heart."_

_Itachi frowned – 'Uzumaki Ryoma?' He hadn't known Naruto had a relative, and why would he want to kill Hisoka?_

_Naruto laughed sharply and brokenly, reading the confusion on Itachi's face as easily as he read every other emotion there, "My dear uncle was a depraved basterd who wanted to kill Kyuubi no Kitsune for destroying his homeland." Itachi's eyes widened. "He killed Hisoka for trying to rescue me," Naruto added in, more quietly. "But now the bastard is dead. You don't need to worry about revenge, Itachi-sensei."_

_Itachi didn't ask about that, but he frowned – the hard, satisfied look on Naruto's face didn't suit the ten year old. However, the Uchiha couldn't blame him – Hisoka and Naruto had been close, and Naruto had loved him as an older brother and a mentor. To think that not only had Naruto been there, but Hisoka had been killed rescuing him……Itachi hesitantly put an arm around Naruto's shoulders. Uchiha's weren't affectionate creatures by nature, but he could see his student was hurting and he didn't like it. Pain didn't suit Naruto's face._

_Naruto drew in a shaky breath, leaning against Itachi's side. The pair was silent for several long moments until Itachi heard a 'plop-plop' noise. He looked down, and was surprised to see tears sliding down Naruto's face as he stared unseeingly out over the river. Slightly panicked (he was never good with people crying) Itachi drew the blonde closer, until he was practically sitting in his lap. Without warning, Naruto buried his head in Itachi's shirt and began sobbing, shoulders shaking. Really panicking now, Itachi wrapped his arms around the blonde and murmured comforting nothings to him – he had seen his mother do it to Sasuke after his younger brother had had a nightmare, and thought that perhaps it would work on his student._

_Itachi waited patiently, ignoring the wetness seeping through his shirt. Eventually, Naruto's strong sobs became gasping hiccups and then stopped. The blonde stayed where he was, however, and when Itachi looked down he was fast asleep, red circles around his closed eyes and tear-streaks down his pale face. Itachi's eyes softened and he picked up the blonde easily. He carefully carried him to his bedroll and slowly tucked him. After taking one last look at Naruto's face, Itachi moved away to talk to Raiden, who had given the pair their privacy when he arrived back from getting food._

_-End Flashback-_

Itachi shook his head. Naruto had been better after that episode – his tortured response to Hisoka's name had toned down until he barely reacted when someone mentioned him. According to Raiden the blonde hadn't cried for the Samurai since his death, and letting out that emotion helped heal him in a way. Itachi had stayed for a week that time and then had come back to Konoha and stayed there for the next few years. He hadn't had time to go back to Naruto and Raiden – Sandaime had sent him on constant missions and he had to make time for Sasuke on top of that.

It was good that Naruto had come back. Itachi had missed the blonde – Naruto had become both his student and his friend in the time that they had known each other. He didn't know anyone else who he would comfort voluntarily, besides Sasuke of course.

Itachi shook away the distracting thoughts and concentrated on enjoying the walk – it had been a while, after all.

* * *

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all." (Sam Ewig)

* * *

D-rank missions, Naruto thought two weeks later, sucked. 

Ever since they had passed Kakashi's test, they had been doing D-rank missions, day in and day out. Their tasks had been hoeing gardens, fetching newspapers, sending messages, and now their latest mission, which had been to catch the dratted Fire Lady's cat. It had taken two hours, three pouches of catnip, a hell of a lot of Senbon, and two pounds of tuna to get the cat to even come _close_ to them. It was only thanks to Sakura's warm cooing that they even managed to _get_ the bloody thing. Naruto growled in satisfaction as he watched the enormous lady squeeze her cat to near death.

"Hug it harder, harder!" he murmured under his breath, crossing his fingers for good luck.

Near him, Sasuke snorted and Sakura glared. Naruto was extremely disappointed when the cat returned to its travel box safe and sound, if not a bit miserable. He sighed heavily – seeing that thing dead from the hug would have made his entire _week_……

He sighed as the Fire Lady thanked them profusely and left, cat box swinging beside her. Looking up at a bored looking Kakashi, Naruto said, "Why can't we do something better Kaka-sensei? D-rank missions are so pointless……"

"They teach you patience, ducking number three," Kakashi reprimanded, tapping him on the head with his book. Naruto snorted.

"You do that enough on your own ero-sensei," he muttered under his breath.

And he was right. Kakashi had been arriving two hours late ever since their bell test. And the one time they had decided as a team to arrive just as late as Kakashi, the basterd had showed up on time and lectured them about the necessity of punctuality! He had been so annoying that Team 7 had arrived the next day on time just to avoid having to endure his lectures.

"Why do you want a better mission Uzumaki?" Sakura asked obnoxiously. "When Kakashi-sensei decides we are ready, _then_ we'll get a better mission."

Naruto muttered under his breath, "And you'd just love to wait, wouldn't you pinky?" The only one who heard was Sasuke, who was closest to Naruto, and he just snorted in agreement. Naruto had begun to read him as easily as he read Itachi – the two were eerily similar when it came to talking through body language.

"C'mon, ducklings, we have to go report mission success to Hokage-sama," Kakashi said in a bored voice, a gloved hand flipping a page in his book.

The team made their way to the Hokage tower and waited an hour for the Hokage to be able to see them. Various shinobi and teams filed in through the waiting room, some with injuries and some without, all waiting to make their report. Finally Team 7 was admitted inside the Hokage's room. Sandaime was sitting at his desk, and Umino Iruka was standing nearby.

"Another D-rank mission completed," Kakashi said in bored tone. Sandaime nodded, and watched the Jounin's annoyed students with amusement. Iruka, however, was shooting glares at Naruto, who did his best to ignore them.

"Jiji-sama," he said, making Iruka glare even harder. His team, however, was used to Naruto's semi-rude nickname for Sandaime and didn't react to it at all. "Can't we get a better mission? Hoeing gardens and chasing mad cats isn't doing any good for us – we already know how to work together as a team."

Sandaime considered it. Naruto and Sasuke were both skilled in their own right, and while Sakura was reluctant, the sooner she learned about the real world of the shinobi, the better. And Kakashi _had_ said they worked fairly well together, when Sakura and Naruto stopped bickering……In fact, he even had the perfect mission for them.

"Alright, since you believe you're ready, I'll let you have a C-rank mission," Sandaime said with a smile.

Iruka interrupted him, "But Hokage-sama! They aren't ready for a higher ranking mission yet! They still need to be trained and learn to work better as a team—"

Sandaime held his hand up, "We shall see how you do on this mission, and then perhaps you will continue to get higher ranking ones. If there is any trouble at all, Kakashi-kun will turn you around back to Konoha. Is that understood?"

Naruto nodded excitedly, Sasuke shrugged, and Sakura looked like she wanted to puke, but said yes timidly. Sandaime smiled, pleased that they were determined to move forward.

"Your mission is to escort a man to Nami no Kuni, and protect his bridge until it has finished in construction. The man, Tazuna-san, says that he might be under attack from civilian bandits, but you shouldn't have that much fighting to do, as he says the attacking is random," Sandaime outlined the main points of the mission report, than tossed the scroll to Kakashi. "You'll set out tomorrow morning at 8 am. Please _be on time_," he threw a sharp look at the Jounin sensei, who had the decency to look sheepish.

"Tazuna-san!" Sandaime called out loudly. "You can come in now! I've found a team to guard you!"

A short, squat man with gray hair and the red face of a drinker stumbled into the Hokage's room, his clothes rumpled and dirty. Grey, bloodshot eyes looked at the three genin incredulously.

"You're getting three midgets and a weirdo to bodyguard me?" he asked thickly.

Naruto smiled sharply, his annoyance at the man showing through on his face as he said, "Great things come from the strangest people Jiji."

Tazuna eyed the blonde brat for a moment contemplatively and then shrugged, "Alright. Tomorrow then, midgets, and weirdo?" he asked, looking up at Kakashi for an answer. The jounin nodded and Tazuna stumbled out of the Hokage's office drunkenly. Team 7 looked at each other for a long moment and Naruto sighed.

This was going to be a very _long_ mission.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Well there it is: my least liked chapter so far. Honestly, I suck at fighting scenes so writing the bell test took a while, and I still dislike it. Hopefully it's somewhat good for you guys……Thank you all for your wonderful reviews – seriously, I'm surprised that AIT has managed to get past 50. Chapter 5 should be out the same time next week, if I keep my lazy ass working. 

**(1)** I know the canon Uchiha Massacre happened earlier than this, but I made it a year and a half later to suit story needs.

**SPOILERS Naruto Shippuden Chapter 382:** He's alive, he's alive, he's alive……Probably not for long, but he's alive. For fuck's sake, ero-sennin, don't you ever scare me like that again! Jesus Christ……And yey, we got to see Yondy-chan! And Kushina – damn she's beautiful, isn't she? Now I have a face to put to the name……And I could see some of Kushina in Naruto as well, which was rather awesome. And I loved that Jiraiya named Naruto – and my theory was proven correct! I thought Naruto was the destined child instead of Pein, and I was right, so IN YOUR FACE YOU PIECRCED FREAK!! Nyah! Hem……anyhow, I still don't know what Pein's identity is, which pisses me off somewhat……maybe we'll find out in the next chapter? And, finally……Jiraiya rocks! Damn, I'm giving him more spotlight in AIT because of this……


	5. In Which a Journey Begins

**Author's Notes:** I'm so sorry you guys; I meant to get this out yesterday, but I was sick, and with all the Christmas stuff going on I really didn't have time. And with this chapter being so short, it just makes me feel worse! I promise Chapter 6 will be extra-long to make up for it! Please REVIEW minna!

**This chapter is dedicated to JIRAIYA SANNIN who was my favorite super pervert ever.

* * *

****An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Five: In Which a Journey Begins and We Meet Some New People**

Dear Journal,

Rai-nii-san decided to tell me about my father today.

It surprised me; who wouldn't be shocked that their father was an ultimately cool super-shinobi like Yondaime? It makes sense, I suppose. I saw pictures of him in Jiji-sama's office; he looked a little like me, only older. It makes me mad that Jiji-sama never told me though; don't I have a right to know who my parent's were, who my father was? And even if he didn't tell me about Yondaime, he could have told me my mother's name. I'll have to talk to him about that if I ever go back to Konoha.

But I don't really know how to feel about this. What are you supposed to think about the man that was your father and yet destroyed your life?

(Excerpt from Uzumaki Naruto's Journal, age 6)

* * *

**Nami no Kuni: Unknown Location  
****The 16th**** of May**

"The bridge builder bastard got some bodyguards from Konoha," a short stout man said coldly, his beady eyes fixed on the figure in front of him. "Can you handle them?" The much taller, muscled man snorted, and his mouth turned into a razor sharp grin under the bandages covering the bottom of his face.

"No need to worry. The Demon of the Mist won't be defeated by any wimps from _Konoha_," his disgust for the village shone through in his voice. "They'll be taken care of." He left the room with a swagger, his large sword draped casually over one shoulder. The short man frowned and beckoned someone else out from the shadows. A tall, thin figure emerged from the darkness, dropping into a low bow.

"Yes, Gatou-sama?" he asked quietly. The man Gatou smirked, his fat features becoming cruel in the dull light.

"That Mist Demon is too overconfident. If he fails – the job goes to you and your partner."

The man bowed lowly again, hiding the secret smile playing on the edge of his mouth, "Of course, Gatou-sama. We will be pleased to serve you."

* * *

"Now don't you stand for that! If somebody tries to kill you, you try and kill 'em right back!" (Firefly)

* * *

**Hi no Kuni, Konohagakure  
****The 16th**** of May, 9:00 am**

Naruto irritably glanced up at the sky, his entire posture screaming annoyance. He had been here a full hour already, along with Sakura, Sasuke, and Tazuna, and there still was no sign of Kakashi. Sasuke looked calm (almost too calm, in Naruto's opinion), Sakura was muttering under her breath angrily, and Tazuna was pacing back and forth agitatedly. Naruto watched the man for a moment curiously and decided to activate his eyes. Something about Tazuna had been bugging him ever since he met the man, and maybe by taking a look at his emotions he could figure it out.

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed when he saw that Tazuna's entire personality was coated over with the sickly yellow-green of fear. Under it was pulsing colors – anger, pride, and desperation……What was happening to this man? Naruto de-activated his eyes – looking at those kinds of strong emotions for too long made his sick. His eyes narrowed in thought as he considered the puzzle that was Tazuna.

_'There's got to be something he's not telling us'_ he decided. What did Tazuna have to be fearful of? Jiji-sama had mentioned bandits, but he said that the attacks were random, so the old man wouldn't be giving off as much fear as he was now because of them……Naruto's eyes sharpened. He would figure out this puzzle.

"Yo, ducklings," Kakashi arrived with a poof and a wave, his visible eye crinkling as if he was smiling.

"YOU'RE LATE!!!" Sakura screeched out, scaring away half of the bird population in the surrounding area. Naruto, after un-plugging his ears, growled under his breath and Sasuke's hand was inching towards his kunai pouch. Kakashi, looking a little alarmed, waved a hand rapidly.

"Now, now……I had to help this little old lady cross the street, you see, and then she realize that she had forgotten something on the other side and I had to help her go get it! And then there was this incident with a drowning turtle……"

Naruto sighed and rubbed a hand over his face, "Can it, Kaka-sensei. We can tell you're lying." _'Just like you do every day'_ he added in his thoughts with a small wry smile. Tazuna was watching them all strangely, looking more than a little freaked out by their morning ritual. Naruto couldn't blame him; they were a strange team, even for Konoha.

"Shall we go then?" Kakashi chirped cheerfully, his hand already sneaking to his pocket pouch where a volume of Icha, Icha was hidden.

Tazuna shrugged, "Might as well. I told my daughter we'd be home by tonight, so can we hurry?"

Kakashi nodded and the group began to head out. Naruto pretended to ignore the glares from the gate guards boring into his back – he was used to their hate, and practiced in making masks. His teammates didn't notice the slightest hint of distress around him.

The group made their way slowly through the trees, their pace flagging because of the civilian traveling with them. Tazuna couldn't travel at high speeds like shinobi could, and Team 7 couldn't leave him behind, which meant extremely slow traveling. Naruto grimaced; he hated inching along like this - he could see _snails_ passing by them. Growling he sped up until he was level with Kakashi, who was at the head of the group. Sasuke was walking to the side, his thoughts drifting, and Sakura tagged along close to him, green eyes flicking towards her crush every five seconds. Tazuna was in the middle, sweating heavily and looking like he wanted a drink.

"Ne, Kaka-sensei," Naruto said lowly, making sure that his two teammates couldn't hear. He'd talk about what he thought with his sensei and then share it with Sasuke and Sakura; there was no use in getting them worked up over nothing. Kakashi gave him a glance from behind his book and Naruto continued, "Jiji isn't telling us something."

Kakashi's single eye sharpened and he stole a quick glance at their client. Naruto could be wrong, of course, but he'd been on enough missions with Kushina to know that Uzumaki's were rarely wrong when it came to people.

"How do you know that?" Kakashi murmured, returning his attention to his book.

"His fear is blinding to me," Naruto said bluntly. "There would be no need for him to be afraid if there were really only a few random bandits after him."

Kakashi nodded, considering. He could stop them all now and ask exactly _what_ Tazuna wasn't telling them, or he could continue and wait to see if the thing that scared the old man so much showed up. Kakashi sighed – he trusted Naruto's judgment when it came to people, but they still couldn't be certain.

"Don't say anything to Rooster-Head and Pinky," he murmured out of the side of his mouth. "And keep your eyes and ears open Fox-Face."

Naruto nodded, a scowl working its way on his features due to his nickname. Kakashi had "generously" dumped the nicknames on their team a week ago – Rooster-Head for Sasuke, Pinky for Sakura, and Fox-Face for Naruto. All of them had discouraged Kakashi in any way that they could to _stop_ with the ridiculous names, but the jounin couldn't be persuaded.

Naruto slowed down, dropping away from Kakashi and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. With a slow exhale he released the holds he kept on his senses, allowing them to spread around him in every possible direction.

When he had first merged with Kyuubi, this ability had been overwhelming. He could _see_ everything in the clearest, minute detail. Every sound was accessible to his ears, all of them crystal clear and at maximum loudness. Touching things was torture – even silk, the softest and smoothest of all materials burned his skin. He had to plug his nose every time he went outside, and eating anything made him throw up.

It had taken him months to adjust to his new and improved senses, and even then he kept them under tight regulation so he wouldn't overwhelm himself. But every once and a while the power bubbled under his skin, itching for release, and he would let it go free for once.

Sakura was the first person he noticed; or smelled to be exact. She smelled thickly of cherry blossom and cheap perfume, and the cloying scent rose every time she looked at Sasuke. Naruto frowned, his nose twitching. Kakashi was different – he smelled clean and crisp but with a hint of the coppery smell of fresh blood hiding underneath it all. Sasuke was like his brother; a cool and icy scent, but unlike Itachi's his had the smell of warm grass intertwined with the cold smell. Tazuna, the last scent to filter through his mind, smelled heavily of fear, sweat, and sake. Naruto's frown deepened; he knew that his theory was right. But Kakashi had said to watch and wait, so he didn't say anything and continued to feel.

The wind was picking up, the smooth cool breeze playing against Naruto's clothes and lifting his gray trench coat slightly. The sun was warm against his head, and he could hear the whisper of the trees around him. Without realizing it, he relaxed. _This_ was his home, more than Konoha was. Naruto belonged outside, in nature.

A dreamy smile spread over the hanyou's face as every sound, scent, and feeling drifted around him. It was his own form of meditation, the process of letting go every restraint he kept on this particular power. Kyuubi had once said, in one of his rare soft moods, that _this_ was bliss, not any silly form of human "heaven". Naruto still agreed with him.

Suddenly the smile melted off the blonde's face, changing instead to a frown. There was something……off up ahead. He opened his eyes and immediately caught the dazzle of the sun reflecting off water. A puddle stood at the side of the road innocently.

Naruto raised an eyebrow silently and looked upwards at the clear, cloudless sky. It hadn't rained for the last week and a half; a puddle wouldn't have stayed that long. The spring air was turning crisp and summer-like; the water would have evaporated nearly immediately. _'A trap……?'_ Naruto thought curiously, a hand slipping towards his belt where Chuugi and Gaman lay against his belt. His other was in a subtle ready position so he would be able to grab his katana's handle as soon as anyone attacked. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Kakashi drop back to be the rear guard. The jounin noticed the trick sooner than he had; hopefully he had a plan.

They had just passed the puddle when Naruto felt chakra gathering and rising. Quickly he whirled around and cursed under his breath when he saw that Kakashi had been caught in the chains of the two shinobi who had been encased in the puddle. Sakura and Sasuke followed his gaze just in time to be horrified when the chain broke Kakashi's body into pieces.

Naruto felt more than saw the two shinobi appear behind him and instantly whirled, a metal-fan in each hand on instinct alone. When he saw their chains, a glimmer of an idea whipped through his head and he smirked. Expertly he flicked his wrist and threw Chuugi in the chain's direction, pleased when he saw that the sharp edge of the fan sliced neatly through the metal weapon. Chuugi flew past the attackers and hit a tree where it stuck deeply into the bark, quivering from the force that it was thrown at.

Enraged by the destruction of their weapon, the two men rushed at Naruto, who avoided their blows fairly easily, even if was more than a little wary of the dangerous looking claws attached to their hands. Sakura, he noticed, had moved in front of Tazuna defensively, and Sasuke had a hand to his mouth, ready to blow a gust of fire whenever Naruto got out of the way. Smiling, Naruto slipped out his enemy's hold, crouched, and leapt away powerfully on his haunches, reminding his teammates eerily of a cat for a moment. As soon as he saw that Naruto had gotten away (no matter how strangely), Sasuke blew out a powerful gust of fire, instantly crisping their enemies to a toast.

The forest path was silent for a moment. Then Sakura shouted out, "What about Kakashi-sensei!" She whirled wildly around only to see blocks of wood scattered across the forest floor instead of Kakashi's bloody body pieces.

"I'm right here Sakura," Kakashi said, stepping out from the bushes he had been observing from, eyeing Naruto and Sasuke thoughtfully. They had done well; Naruto, for getting rid of the chains (with a fan no less; Kakashi was impressed) and Sasuke for not hesitating to kill the enemy, and for doing it so well. Sakura could have done better, but at least she had instantly moved to protect Tazuna instead of panicking.

A bead of sweat ran down Kakashi's forehead as he looked at the fried shinobi, "You could have left one of them alive, Sasuke……" he murmured lazily, "We needed to know who they were after……" he shot a look at Tazuna. The old man was sweating heavily and looked terrified.

Naruto said quietly, "Jiji, an explanation would be nice……"

"How do you know it was Tazuna they were after Uzumaki?" Sakura asked bluntly, her eyes narrowed in distaste. Naruto gave her an annoyed look.

"They were not my enemy, they didn't go after Sasuke, you aren't important enough to kidnap, and they kept attacking even after they "killed" Kaka-sensei, which means they weren't after him. That only leaves Jiji," he said acidly. Sakura had the grace to blush, but it was more in anger than embarrassment.

"They were……hired by a man named Gatou," Tazuna said hesitantly, his eyes sliding between Kakashi and Naruto. "He……isn't fond of the idea of a bridge. I knew that he would send people after me, which is why I hired bodyguards."

"This is a B-rank mission now, Tazuna-san," Kakashi said flatly. "There is a reason we ask clients to be as accurate and truthful as possible about mission details; we need to make sure that the right people get it. You should be traveling with experienced chuunins, not three genin barely out of the academy. We'll need to go back."

"Hey! Kaka-sensei!" Naruto protested loudly. "What do you mean 'go back'? We can do this mission! Look at how easily _those_ guys were defeated," Naruto nodded to the smoking corpses. "We can take on whatever comes our way, right guys?" he looked to his teammates for support. Sasuke nodded shortly, but Sakura looked timid. Naruto mentally sighed; she was still afraid of larger missions then? Hopefully this would break that out of her. He returned his attention to Kakashi, giving him a pleading look with wide blue eyes.

"……Fine," Kakashi agreed grudgingly. _'It's those stupid puppy-dog eyes. Sensei used to use them on me too.'_ "We will escort Tazuna-san to his bridge and guard him. However! If this gets to be too much, we send for back-up, agreed?"

"Haaaai!" Naruto cried out happily, dancing around his team. "Don't worry jij, you've got the very best!" he added in to Tazuna. The old man sighed melodramatically even as he felt his spirits lift at Naruto's carefree attitude.

"But that's what I'm afraid of ochibi-chan," he sighed mournfully. "What kind of future do we have, if _you're_ the best of the best?"

Naruto stopped his happy dance and gaped at Tazuna, who promptly smiled innocently. He glared and stuck out his tongue at the older man, making him laugh.

"We should get going," Kakashi said quietly, interrupting their banter. "You said your daughter was expecting us, Tazuna-san."

The group began walking again, except this time they were all silent. Kakashi took the lead with Sasuke and Sakura close behind him. Tazuna walked between them and Naruto, who had taken the rear guard. They were all watchful and paranoid; a distinct difference from their earlier carefree attitude.

Naruto had reigned in his senses when he spotted the puddle earlier, but now he let them out a little, to keep a lookout for more threats. However the forest around them was silent and if there were any threats they were out of Naruto's range.

"Sensei who exactly is this Gatou person that's after Tazuna-san?" Sakura asked curiously, breaking the silence.

Kakashi looked strangely serious, "He's a wealthy shipping magnate and he runs a large company – Gatou Company, I believe it's called. However he also sells drugs and other illegal items, and uses shinobi and thugs to take over businesses and countries. He's not a very nice man," the jounin looked to Tazuna for confirmation, and the old man nodded.

"Gatou took over Nami's shipping industry a year ago; he controls all the goods and traffic that come in and out of the city over ship. Our economy is failing because we're isolated from the outside world. But if I build my bridge, we're connected back into the world, and our country can recover. Gatou is scared of that, and he's trying to off me because of it," Tazuna explained.

"But why lie about the fact that shinobi are after you?" Sakura asked confusedly. "Wouldn't it be easier to be truthful?"

"Nami's economy is failing," Naruto cut in before Tazuna could reply. His thoughtful eyes were fixed on his client's face. "They wouldn't have enough money to afford an expensive B-rank mission. C-rank missions, however, are at a much lower price; a price that Nami can afford."

Tazuna nodded grimly, "The money I gave you was pretty much all we had; it took me and most of my neighbors to get it all together."

The group fell silent again and remained so until they reached the huge lake surrounding Nami no Kuni. Kakashi paid for a boat to cross over to their destination, but no conversation started; they were trying to be silent and hidden. They didn't wish for their new enemy to realize that they had arrived back.

The shore of Nami and the half-built bridge came into view quickly, making Naruto give a silent thumbs-up to Tazuna, who just shrugged modestly. The other genin also looked somewhat impressed with the length and size of the bridge, even in its unfinished state. Soon, however, they were on dry land once more and all thoughts of admiration were erased in the need for secrecy.

Naruto tensed once they were on solid ground once more, and his mouth curved down into a frown. He could sense something……his eyes widened and he threw himself at Tazuna, knocking them both to the ground all while yelling, "DUCK!" to his teammates. Kakashi had been on the ground at the same time as Naruto, but Sasuke and Sakura only just managed to escape the giant cleaver of a sword that had sliced through the air above their heads.

Naruto was instantly up on his feet, eyes darting around warily to look for their attacker. Kakashi stood next to him, his usual lazy look deserted for an alert attitude. Sasuke and Sakura helped Tazuna to his feet, both staying close in case of another attack.

Mist settled around them, making Team 7 tense. They could all recognize it as a fake mist, and they knew that it meant their opponent was a water shinobi.

"Hatake Kakashi, the great 'Copy-Cat Shinobi'," a disembodied voice said, sounding muffled because of the still-thickening smoke. Nobody noticed Naruto's wide eyes when the voice spoke, as they were all too preoccupied with finding this mystery person. "It seems working for that shrimp has its benefits, if I finally get to meet the White-Wolf of Konoha in person……" the voice trailed off.

Kakashi stiffened; he hadn't heard that name in years. The voice continued talking, "Now……I would say that you could hand over the old man and I'd let you go, but I don't think I _want_ to let you go. So, how about this Hatake? We fight, and whoever wins gets your client and your little teams of brats. What do you say?"

"Kaka-sensei," Naruto said urgently. Kakashi looked down at him, "Let me talk. I think I know this guy."

Kakashi looked surprised, "What? How would you know him?"

"He sounds like someone I met in Kiri," Naruto answered. Then he turned the volume up and boomed out at the direction the mysterious voice was coming from. "Oi! Bandage-head, is that you! What do you think you're doing, acting all mysterious and crap?!"

"Gaki?!" the disembodied voice (now known as "Bandage-Head") sounded shocked. "Damnit, I knew I should've looked at who was on the genin team. What the hell are you doing here, you blonde brat! Last I heard you were in Rai no Kuni with Raiden!"

"So it is you!" Naruto roared back. "Don't tell me a prideful ass like you is working for that worm Gatou?! Where's Haku?! I thought he would've knocked some sense into you! And I'm a Konoha genin now Bandage-Head, what else were you expecting?!"

"Haku is still with me, stupid gaki," Bandage-Head rumbled. "But we didn't have a choice, damnit. And what are you doing, becoming a Konoha shinobi? I've _told_ you they're weak and soft, and yet you still go do it anyway!"

"They're not weak _or_ soft, you old jiji!" Naruto cried out indignantly. "And how can you say that anyway, when _you're_ the one working for _Gatou_ of all people!"

"Hem……Naruto?" Kakashi said with a cough. His student ignored him.

"And if Haku's with you, then why are you still acting so stupid?! Baka! You should know better than to work for someone like that!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi interrupted again, sounding more annoyed. The blonde looked up at him sharply.

"What?!"

"Who is the man that you're talking to, and how _exactly_ do you know him? And could you please try to convince him not to kill us?" Kakashi added the last part in a low grumble; he didn't like having to ask his student to do anything for him.

"Yo, Bandage-Head, can you quit acting all scary and come out to show your face already?" Naruto called out lazily.

"……Fine you stupid gaki," Bandage-head said in a grumble and the mist disappeared, leaving a tall, broad-shouldered man standing on the lake that they had just come off of. The lower half of his face was wrapped in bandages, and his headband had a neat slash running through it.

"He's a missing-nin!" Sakura gasped. Bandage-Head rolled his eyes as he walked up to Naruto's side, towering above the blonde by nearly a foot and a half.

"Are you happy now you blonde shrimp?" he grumbled. Naruto just beamed up at him, making the taller man roll his eyes and huff. The blonde turned to his teammates and sensei, who were all looking at Bandage-Head with various expressions of horror.

"Team of mine, meet Momochi Zabuza, also know as the Demon of the Mist," Naruto chirped happily. "But you can just call him Bandage-Head." Zabuza's glare told all of them that if they even _thought_ of calling him that, then they'd be dead and buried.

Kakashi wondered if perhaps it was Sandaime's form of punishment to put Uzumaki Naruto on his team. Honestly, how could the brat have a _missing-nin_ as a friend? And the _Demon of the Mist_ at that!

"Haku's with you, right Bandage-Head?" Naruto asked Zabuza excitedly. The missing-nin just nodded stoically. Naruto grinned brightly and then called out, "HAKU! Are you gonna come down and say hi, or what?!"

A dark shape darted out from the trees and a girl **(1)** appeared next to Zabuza, a Hunter's mask attached to her hip and her long brown hair pulled back into a bun.

"Naruto-kun," she said with a warm smile on her lips. Naruto leapt at her and swept her into a bear hug, ignoring the fact that she was at least an eight or so inches taller than him. Then he pulled back and wagged a finger in her face.

"Haku! You know better than to let Bandage-Head do such stupid things! Didn't I tell you to look after him? And when I finally meet you guys again, what do I see; two lackeys for the most despicable worm around!"

"Ah……we didn't have much of a choice, Naruto-kun," Haku said, her pleasant smile not fading in the face of Naruto's mother-like scolding. However Naruto's bright grin was wiped from his face, replaced with a far more serious look.

"Don't tell me you guys are broke _again_," he said, looking back and forth from Zabuza to Haku. Zabuza said nothing, but his smaller companion nodded sadly. Naruto groaned deep in his throat.

"There's no way I'm letting you stay with Gatou and keep trying to off me," he said in exasperation. "Nope; I'll give you the money you need, and that's that. Jeez, you didn't need to be so stupid; didn't I tell you that you could ask whenever you needed some?"

Haku giggled gently, "Yes, but Zabuza-sensei didn't want to bother you."

Naruto glared at the tall man, "Baka no Zabuza. Honestly, like I'd be _bothered_ by my friends asking for help. It's just your silly pride, that's all," with a sniff he turned back to his dumbstruck team. "Well guys, it looks like we have two more people to come with us!" he proclaimed brightly. "Say hello to Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, and Tazuna Haku! Zabuza, try to stop looking grouchy; you knew as soon as you saw me that you wouldn't be working for Gatou anymore."

Kakashi sighed deeply. He wanted to remind Naruto that only ten minutes ago this man had been trying to kill him, but he got the strange feeling that it would be waste of time. Naruto was a force of nature, and really he valued peace too much to bring the issue up. Besides……they weren't doing anything now, anyways. He gestured to his team that they should get moving. Soon they left the area, with only the drifting sound of Naruto's chatter remaining.

A figure leapt out of the tree, a smirk on his thin face. Thin blue eyes watched the small and blurry figures of the people he was supposed to kill, and the smirk widened.

"The Uzumaki brat, eh……this ought to be interesting," and with that the figure disappeared into the shadows, leaving only the mist and the trees behind.

* * *

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? (Abraham Lincoln)

* * *

They reached Tazuna's house fairly easily after that, even with all the uneasy and fearful glances shot at Haku and Zabuza, who were both listening attentively to a chattering Naruto. The rest of Team 7 didn't know what to make of the new arrivals (or, in fact, their blonde teammate) but they chose to stay quiet. Naruto was a strange person; it only made sense for him to have strange friends. 

"Chichi!" a young voice called from the house, and a woman burst out from the door, her long dark hair flying as she ran towards Tazuna. She grabbed him in a hug, holding him tightly. "Thank kami-sama you're alright. I was getting worried when you didn't show up on time……" she trailed off when she noticed the strange people surrounding her father, who were all looking at her with various forms of amusement. Blushing brightly, she released Tazuna and made a short bow.

"This is Tsunami, my daughter," Tazuna said gruffly. "My grandson, Inari, is inside. Tsunami-chan, these are my bodyguards; Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura. Those two," he pointed to the newcomers, "are Momochi Zabuza and Haku, two friends of Naruto's who decided to tag along." He didn't mention that they had also tried to kill them; that would only make his cute daughter upset.

"Well, come inside," Tsunami said with a warm smile. "I have dinner ready, and I'm sure you're all tired from the long journey."

They had all settled around the table when a cute boy of around 7 or 8 darted inside, taking a place next to Tsunami. His green fishing cap was pulled lowly over his eyes, blocking his face from view. The shinobi eyed him curiously, but they all stayed quiet.

"This is good food, Tsunami-chan!" Naruto crowed out, diving in for thirds. Tsunami blushed from the praise but thanked him, pleased that the newcomers liked her cooking.

"Ne, Fox-Face," Kakashi said, ignoring Naruto's twitch at the hated nickname, "are you ever going to tell us how you met your little friends over there?" he waved lazily in Zabuza and Haku's direction.

Naruto leaned back in his chair, considering the question, "Well……" he shot a look at Zabuza and Haku. Both of them nodded, and Naruto sighed. He really didn't want to tell this story, but it would get their curiosity out of the way……

"Well, the first time I met Zabuza was somewhat different from how we just met him," Naruto started with a smirk.

_-Flashback-_

_"Go to the blacksmith he says," Naruto said in an annoyed grumble. "I can't help you he says. You got yourself in this mess he says. Stupid Raiden! Stupid Hisoka! I can't believe the both of them!" he kicked the ground viciously, still angry at his self-appointed guardians._

_Naruto's sword – the one he had recently gotten from Hisoka and had named Ginkaze – had gotten a deep crack in it from the last serious mission that they had had. His mentors, both not having the skill or patience to fix the sword, sent him into the town with some money, telling him to ask Kirigakure's renowned blacksmith to help him out. _

_Naruto found the blacksmith's shop easily and, his anger dying down somewhat, looked around curiously when he walked inside. It was a messy place; metals of all shapes and conditions were scattered over the floor and counter. Various tools were hung on the walls, and he could glimpse a huge fire in the room behind the counter where customers paid. _

_"Hello? Is anyone here?" he called out loudly, eyes moving around the room with fascination; the metals and tools were fascinating. _

_"Ho? I have another customer then?" A tall, buff man with spiky black hair and sooty skin stepped out from the room behind the counter, wiping his hands on his rough work clothes. He smiled, gleaming white teeth flashing in his darkened face. "What a pleasant surprise. Who might you be then, little one?"_

_Naruto puffed up, "I'm not little! My name's Uzumaki Naruto, and don't you forget it!" he said, pointing a finger at the blacksmith. _

_The man looked a little startled by Naruto's bold reply, but then he shrugged and smiled again, "I see. I'm Ira Takashi; it's nice to meet you Uzumaki-san. What can I do for you today?"_

_Naruto reached behind his back and pulled out Ginkaze from its sheath, wincing when he saw the dark crack in the blade's shining silver surface. He placed the sword on the counter._

_"My sword got this during a mission," he explained to Takashi, who was examining the blade curiously. "I need you to fix it."_

_"Hmm……" the big man said, looking closely at the crack. After a few moments he added in, "I think I can do that for you. I should be able to finish this today; maybe by seven or eight, so just drop by then and we can work out payment, alright?"_

_Naruto nodded, but the blacksmith wasn't finished yet, "Hm……actually, could you do me a favor Uzumaki-san? I have another customer who's waiting to get his blade fixed up, but he's an impatient guy and having him in here for the entire time is going to wreck my nerves. Do you think you show him around Kiri for a while until his sword is done?"_

_Naruto tilted his head to the side, considering the request and then shrugged, "Why not?" He didn't have anything else to do anyways. _

_Takashi bowed in thanks and then rushed into the back room. Minutes later he reappeared, pushing another tall, broad man out of the door. _

_"Uzumaki-san, this is Momochi Zabuza-kun," unnoticed by Takashi, Naruto's eyes widened and Zabuza smirked. "Please take good care of him for me. Zabuza-san, you can pick up your sword at three."_

_Naruto and Zabuza left the shop in silence, with the blonde sneaking looks at his taller, darker companion. Finally, after they were a few streets away from Takashi's shop, Naruto gathered up enough courage to ask a question._

_"Why didn't he recognize you?"_

_Zabuza didn't need to ask what the small blonde meant. His name was in the Bingo Book; it had been ever since he had killed all those students. Most of Kirigakure knew his name and face, which is why he usually covered his face with bandages and used a fake name. Silently he looked down at the blonde kid and shrugged; it wasn't as if it was valuable information to give away._

_"He hasn't had his shop long in Kiri, and he's not a shinobi," he said lowly._

_Naruto nodded in understanding and then stayed silent, just walking beside the older taller man. He knew that perhaps he should be running away (actually the idea had crossed his mind several times) but he didn't feel any danger signs from Zabuza; the man wasn't his enemy yet. He didn't see the need to antagonize him and make an enemy when he didn't have to._

_"What happened to your sword?" Naruto asked in curiosity. He knew that Zabuza was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and that their swords were supposed to be flawless and powerful. _

_"My student cracked it in a battle," Zabuza said, and Naruto could detect a hint of pride in his voice. _

_"Must be some kind of student," Naruto said under his breath. Anyone that could crack a sword like Zabuza's had his respect._

_"You'll be meeting him in a minute," Zabuza said with a small smirk. Naruto looked up at him in question, but then he felt an approaching chakra darting down the streets of Kiri. He looked up to see a long haired boy – girl? – with a worried look over his – her? – face._

_"I thought you said your student was a guy," Naruto said with some surprise._

_Zabuza chuckled roughly, "Haku is a boy, even if he doesn't look it."_

_Naruto looked up at the man and was even more surprised to see the hint of warm affection in his dark eyes. He would have never expected to see the Demon of the Mist so warm to another person; it was like seeing Kyuubi be warm and fluffy towards humans. _

_"Zabuza-sama!" the boy ran up to Zabuza's side with a warm smile, further surprising Naruto. Just as he didn't expect Zabuza to be warm to his student, he didn't expect Haku to be warm to his teacher. Haku, noticing the small blonde by Zabuza's side, asked, "Who's this?"_

_"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto answered instantly, and he dipped into a short bow. "The blacksmith Zabuza was visiting asked me to show him around town," an amused smile played across his face. "Not that he really needs it."_

_Haku looked startled for a moment, but then he smiled, "It's nice to meet you Uzumaki-kun."_

_Naruto flapped a hand, "Call me Naruto, Haku! Uzumaki-kun makes me feel old; I'm only eight for Kami-sama's sake!"_

_Haku laughed and nodded, "Naruto it is then."_

_-End Flashback-_

Kakashi blinked, "Well that was an……odd meeting, for the lack of a better word." He turned to Zabuza in question, "How did you manage to get into Kiri? Didn't they banish you after that _incident_?"

Zabuza shrugged, "I snuck in. Ida Takashi was supposed to be one of the best blacksmiths around; I didn't want anyone less fixing up my sword." He patted the huge blade on his back.

"What happened after that Naruto?" Tazuna asked curiously.

"Ah, well we became friends while I was 'showing them around town' and they decided to stay around Kiri for a while. I learned under Zabuza with Haku for about two months until they had to leave. We became good friends during that time, and I stayed in touch while I was traveling."

"We haven't heard from him since a year ago, when he was still in Rai no Kuni," Haku explained. "We started working for Gatou a couple months ago, when our money situation was getting pretty bad. All we knew about Tazuna's assassination was that he was being protected by Konoha shinobi. If we had known Naruto-kun was on the genin team……" he shrugged.

"Gatou will be angry with you for not doing your job," Kakashi observed.

Zabuza snorted, "The blonde gaki won't let us go back to the fat shrimp, so we don't really have a choice."

Naruto smiled and nodded his head triumphantly, "You know me so well Bandage-Head."

"How many times did I tell you not to call me that gaki?" Zabuza asked, half in exasperation and half in despair. He knew that no matter how many times he asked, Naruto would never stop with the stupid nickname.

Naruto snickered at the look on Zabuza's face, "Aw, you know you love it Zabuza-kun," he purred out, and reached up to pinch the older man's bandaged cheek. Zabuza slapped Naruto's hands away with a scowl.

Sakura interrupted their play when she said out loud what had just hit her since Naruto had told his story, "Haku's a _boy_?!"

* * *

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something. (Unknown)

* * *

**Nami no Kuni: Unknown Location  
****The 16th**** of May**

A shadowy figure bowed in front of Gatou, his long dark tassel of hair swinging over his shoulder as he did so. Next to him, a figure with short, spiky hair stood, crossing her arms over a generous chest.

"Momochi Zabuza and his pet student have failed, Gatou-sama," the man said respectfully to the short, squat figure sitting in a throne-like chair. The man frowned angrily.

"What?! Why?!" he asked sharply.

"Among the genin was a friend of theirs; a blonde named Uzumaki Naruto. They couldn't fight against him," the man said smoothly.

Gatou leaned back in his chair, his beady eyes calculating, "Well, I knew that they would betray me anyways. You remember what I told you, Washi-kun?"

"Yes, Gatou-sama," Washi nodded.

"Yes; you and Kaida will be the ones to kill Tazuna. If anyone gets in your way, you have my permission to kill them as well!" Gatou's voice was crazed and excited. Samuru Washi silently bowed again and led his partner, Hoshiko Kaida, out of the room. Once they were out of range, Kaida smirked.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you said?" she asked in a deep, husky voice. Washi nodded, a secret smile playing across his face as well.

"Yes……Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Dun, dun, dun……I seriously don't like the part with Zabuza and Haku, but otherwise I'm satisfied with this chapter. Review people, c'mon! Oh and a warning; my computer's gonna die sometime next week, and it probably won't be back up until sometime in January (probably the middle of it), so Chapter 6 may take some time coming out. Till next time, minna! 

**(1)** Yes, we all know Haku's a boy. But Team 7 (besides Naruto) doesn't know that, so poor Haku-chan is gonna have to be a girl until they're informed. Sorry if it irks ya.

**SPOILERS Naruto Shippuden 383:** T.T……I can't believe Jiraiya _died_! Damnit, why didn't he take my warning seriously! –sends Tsunade into the afterworld to beat ero-sennin's ass- But honestly, how awesome was his death? "The Book of Uzumaki Naruto"……damn I like that title! Tobi vs. Konoha-nins! Itachi vs. Sasuke! How will it end? Who will win? We have to wait another week to find out! T.T


	6. In Which Some Genin Train

**Author's Note:** Wow, you guys, over 100 reviews. I felt like crying when I saw that, so you're all responsible for making Unwritten into a big crybaby! Thank you so much for all your support; I'm loving that so many people like this story.

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Six: In Which Some Genin Train and Kyuubi Appears**

Sandaime Hokage-sama,

The C-rank mission assigned to Cell 7 has hit some difficulties. Tazuna-san has admitted that he lied about the mission details and that he has a dangerous gang-dealer after him; you have probably heard of the infamous Gatou. We were attacked by two unidentified men, but we were unable to get information from them – a certain fan crisped them with his fiery breath of doom. The fox kit and the bookworm are safe as well. However it seems that the fox kit has made friends in unexpected places during his many travels; namely with a certain Mist demon who was after our heads until blondie managed to show him the light. Currently we don't know if Gatou is sending anyone else after us, but I will contact you with one of my summons again if there are further threats. Please stand-by for backup, just in case.

Your friend,  
HK

* * *

**Nami no Kuni: Tazuna's House  
****The 18th of May**

The sun sank slowly down upon Nami, darkening and dramatizing the horrible transformation that had overtaken the once bustling sea-side city. Villagers of Nami sat on the streets, their cardboard homes beside them, and begged for food, for money, for anything that the solitary passing traveler could offer. Their clothes were ragged and full of holes, their bodies were dirty and unwashed, and the streets around them reeked from filth and grime. The shops that were still standing were old and dusty from being abandoned and the entire city looked like it had caved in on itself; everything was falling apart and collapsing.

Uzumaki Naruto looked around the desolate city with a frown, his sad blue eyes traveling to each hungry, poor person lining the streets of Nami. He plunged a hand into his dark blue trench coat and pulled out a number of coins. Quickly he handed out as many as he could to anyone he could reach; he hated to see anyone suffering like this, and if he could do anything to help he would. He felt a pang in his chest when the villagers he had given his money to thanked him whole-heartedly, with smiles on their faces for the small amount of money Naruto had been able give them.

The rest of Team 7 looked equally aghast at the destruction of the town. Sakura, ever the emotional one, had tears in her eyes, while Sasuke had a frown on his face and a furrow etched into his forehead. Even Kakashi's single eye looked unusually somber for the occasion, and for once his orange book was nowhere to be seen. Behind them Tazuna looked at his crumbling city with sad, resigned eyes.

It had been two days since they arrived at Nami, and currently they were looking for some supplies Tsunami needed around the house. Naruto wasn't sure if they would be able to find them though; all the shops they had checked looked barren and dusty, as if they hadn't had anything in stock for quite some time. Now, looking around at the hungry and poor masses that had once been proud Nami citizens, he supposed that anything on the shelves had been stolen.

"This is what Gatou has brought to the city?" Sakura said with horror in her voice. "Why don't they do anything against him if he's wrecked their lives so much?"

Tazuna shook his head sadly, "They've lost hope, Sakura-san. And when you lose hope, you lose your will to fight."

Team 7 was silent for a while; they all knew, in their own way, what it was like to lose hope.

Finally Naruto sighed and looked over at his team, "I don't think we're gonna find anything Kaka-sensei. Should we head back to Tsunami-nee-san?"

Kakashi looked to Tazuna, who just nodded. The group made their way back to the house, all of them subdued from the look into the horrible life of the Nami people.

* * *

"Secrets," Kohler finally said, "are a luxury we can no longer afford." (Angels & Demons by Dan Brown)

* * *

Kakashi led his team out into the woods, still amused by their reactions when he told them that they were going to start training. Sakura had paled, Sasuke's lips had curved into a smirk, and Naruto had given him a look that clearly said _'finally'_. The Jounin hadn't told his team what exactly the training was; if he had, he was sure their reactions would have been _very_ different. With a smirk that no one could see under his mask, Kakashi stopped in the middle of the forest, where they were surrounded by high, thick trees.

Team 7 looked around in confusion until Sakura asked tentatively, "……Sensei? Why did you stop?"

"This is where we're training today, Sakura," Kakashi said happily, and noted Naruto's twitch as well as Sasuke's glare with more than a little amusement. He really should have gotten himself some Genin years ago; they were so entertaining!

"Then what are we going to do Kaka-sensei?" Naruto asked bluntly.

Kakashi eye-smiled, "You're all going to tree-climb for me."

Sasuke and Sakura looked nonplussed but Naruto groaned loudly and whined, "Not this sensei……anything but _tree-climbing_. That has to be the most boring thing ever-"

Sakura cut him off, "How is it training to climb trees Kakashi-sensei?" her voice held more than a little threat. Inner-Kakashi shivered and sweatdropped. He'd have to remember to keep an eye on Sakura; it looked like she'd make a very formidable woman after all……

Kakashi walked up to a tree while saying, "Ah, but the hardest part to this is," pause for dramatic effect, "you have to climb without your hands!"

Swiftly he ran up the tree, and was pleased by Sakura's awed gasp, even if his two others students didn't seem so appreciative. Kakashi couldn't bring himself to be surprised; Sasuke wasn't the type to let his emotions out, and Naruto seemed to know the exercise already……The Jounin frowned as a thought occurred to him. What was he supposed to have Naruto do when his other students would be doing tree-climbing? As he made his way down to the ground, he cursed Raiden for giving him this problem. And he'd thought this was such a good idea too……Inner-Kakashi pouted.

"But how will this help us get stronger sensei?" Sakura asked petulantly when Kakashi was earth-bound once more.

Kakashi gave her an eye-smile, "It's said that if you can master this exercise, you can do any Jutsu!" _'If you are attuned to it and if you actually work for it'_ he added in his head. The girl still looked skeptical, but the prospect of being able to become so much stronger (_for her Sasuke-kun of course!_) silenced any doubts she may have had.

"You need to focus your chakra into your feet," Kakashi explained. "Enough to walk up the tree and not slip but try not to gather it too thickly, because then you'll break the tree. Try it."

Team 7 focused and soon the feeling of youthful chakra gathering and focusing filled the air. Kakashi, with his earlier revelation, wasn't surprised that Naruto was the first one to do it, or that Sakura followed close after. Sasuke, after a few tries, managed to focus his chakra as well.

"Alright, you two," he pointed to Sasuke and Sakura, "are going to climb trees until you can make it perfectly to the top without any mishaps." He turned to Naruto with a frown, "But I don't know what to do with you Fox-Face……"

"Why isn't Uzumaki training with us Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked demandingly. Kakashi considered the question carefully.

"He's already learned this exercise Sakura, and there's no use training him in this if he already knows it," he finally said.

Sakura glared at Naruto, wondering why this vagabond knew something that even _she_ didn't know. "And just how does Uzumaki already know how to 'tree-climb'?" she asked snidely.

"My guardian trained me, Haruno," Naruto said simply. "I learned this when I was six. As for my training, Kaka-sensei," he turned back to his teacher, ignoring Sakura's anger. "I can train myself. I wanted to work on some things anyway. I'll be over there, if anyone needs me," he pointed to a nearby clearing. Then, without waiting to hear of their agreement, he strode off into the trees and then disappeared from sight.

"Why is Naruto getting special treatment?" Sasuke asked lowly, his eyes fixed on Kakashi. The older man sighed and wished that he could be reading his precious book.

"Naruto has had years of hard training," he said bluntly. "Because of this he is more skilled. He's not receiving special treatment; he's receiving the training he needs. I'm not going to make him do exercises he knows already, Sasuke."

The Uchiha huffed and glared in the direction that Naruto had gone in, but didn't say anything more. He was fiercely jealous that his blonde teammate already knew all these things, but the more reasonable part of his mind understood that no matter how much of a genius he was, he couldn't know more than someone with years of training. But he vowed silently, as he readied himself to try the tree-climbing exercise that he would beat Uzumaki Naruto no matter what.

Farther off, in the clearing he'd so clearly pointed out to his team, Uzumaki Naruto was talking to himself. Well, not really to himself, but to the big, bad demon inside him.

"C'mon furball, I need training!" Naruto said to himself out loud, a pout forming on his face.

**"Do it yourself, gaki,"** Kyuubi answered with a gigantic yawn. **"I'm tired."**

"Lazy asshole," Naruto muttered. "What'll it take to convince you, then?"

Inside his cage, one of Kyuubi's eyes opened interestedly. **"Hm……? Well if you want to put it that way……A month of no ramen, gaki."**

Sasuke and Sakura were temporarily distracted from their training by the loud scream that echoed around the forest. They looked at each other, then at the clearing it had come from (which, they realized, was the one that Naruto had pointed out) before shrugging and carrying on. They had learned to ignore their blonde teammate's strange ways.

Naruto, on the other hand, was twitching on the ground, hands over his ears and a horrified scream spilling from his mouth. Kyuubi, enjoying his container's pain, was laughing his ass off inside of the blonde.

"Kyuubi……you old furball……" Naruto muttered as he started to get a hold of his horror. "Please tell me you didn't mean that……"

**"Of course I did, gaki,"** Kyuubi said in a blunt manner. **"I'm getting sick of Ramen. If you want me to train you now or anytime soon, you'll stop eating it for a **_**month**_**."**

Naruto whimpered pathetically. How could Kyuubi do this to him? Making him give up ramen, and for a whole month too……he was too cruel!

"Fine!" Naruto choked out. "I'll do it!" _'Forgive me, my precious ramen. I'll make it up to you.'_ "But you're training me whenever I want for the next week you old furball!"

Kyuubi chuckled deeply, **"Deal. See, that wasn't so hard was it gaki? Now hurry up and summon me so I can get this over with."**

Naruto got up, pushing his sorrow for the loss of his ramen into the back of his mind so he could mourn it later. With a sigh he pulled out a scroll from one of his numerous pockets and swept it open. Carefully he bit into the soft skin of his thumb and wiped his blood over the inky black seals covering the cream of the paper after making the very familiar hand signs for the jutsu he was performing.

_"Kuchiyose no Jutsu,"_ he said softly and a large _poof_ of smoke appeared in front of him.

Soon it cleared to reveal a medium-sized crimson red fox with three black-tipped tails swirling behind it. Cunning, crimson red eyes looked up at Naruto in annoyance.

"I hate this form, gaki," Kyuubi said uncomfortably, shifting from side to side as he tried to get used to his earthly body. "Give me some more chakra so I can shift."

Naruto gave the fox an exasperated look but answered, "Fine, you old furball. Though _why_ I care if you're uncomfortable, I have no idea……" Carefully he regulated a bit more of Kyuubi's chakra through the link they still shared, making sure not to give too much.

Kyuubi grimaced and then began to shift. Fur became skin and hair, paws turned into feet and hands, the cunning fox muzzle was replaced with a human face, and his body straightened and grew taller. Within seconds a man stood before Naruto instead of a fox. His crimson hair swept down his back to settle around his waist, and he was much taller and broader than Naruto. His features were sharp and masculine, and he was completely naked, showing off tanned skin and large muscles.

Naruto wrinkled his nose, "Damnit, we should figure out a way to get some clothes on you while you do that……My mind keeps getting scarred every time I get the _pleasure_ of seeing you naked." Swiftly he reached into another pocket and pulled out a different scroll, repeating the same process he had done to bring Kyuubi into the real world. He tossed the pants and shirt to Kyuubi, who grabbed them and gave Naruto a sharp grin as he pulled them on.

The clothes were loose and made out of a material that Naruto had always suspected to be silk. They were as crimson red as Kyuubi's hair and made from a loose, Chinese style. Kyuubi also had dainty, Chinese slippers to go with them, which had always proved Naruto's theory about the fox's insane amount of vanity true. Honestly, what kind of war-monger demon wore _slippers_? They had gotten the clothes soon after Naruto had first summoned Kyuubi into the real world; the fox had been the one to buy them, saying that they were similar to the clothes he used to wear before being imprisoned.

Kitsune youkai were well known to be shape-shifters, but Naruto wasn't sure if Kyuubi had any forms besides that of fox and man, as the demon had yet to show any others. He'd been surprised when Kyuubi had first transformed; an accident which happened when Naruto had given the fox more chakra by mistake, which had given him enough power to access his shape-shifting ability. Kyuubi liked to spend more time in his human form because, unlike his fox form, it settled more comfortably around him. Naruto wasn't sure why this was, but he had a feeling it had something to do with Kyuubi having a human container.

"Naruto!" the blonde turned when he heard Kakashi's horrified voice and winced. The one-eyed man was looking at the newly transformed Kyuubi with horror, his orange books dangling from limp fingers. Obviously the man was smart, as he had figured out exactly _who_ the red-headed man was.

"Uhm……Kaka-sensei? I can explain……" Naruto said uneasily, his eyes flickering back and forth between Kyuubi and Kakashi.

The jounin visibly pulled himself together. He stalked closer to the odd pair, putting his book back into his pouch. Naruto winced again; obviously Kakashi meant business.

"Yes, that might be a good idea Fox-Face," Kakashi said calmly. He stopped in front of the blonde and gave him a _look_. Naruto sighed.

"Kaka-sensei, meet Kyuu-chan. Kyuu-chan, meet Kaka-sensei," Naruto cheered inwardly when he heard Kakashi's muffled snort at Kyuubi's nickname. Step One: Get Rid of the Tension was a success!

"Hmm?" Kyuubi said lazily, turning to look at the Jounin with lidded crimson eyes. "Ah, yes, the gray-haired ningen, the one who fought me so pitifully in the past."

Kakashi's jaw visibly clenched, even under his deceiving mask. Naruto chuckled nervously and inwardly hit his forehead. _Why_ couldn't Kyuubi be a decent, polite demon? He just _had_ to mention _that night_ to a _Konoha nin_.

_'Are you stupid or really that arrogant?'_ Naruto sent the thought along their stretched bond with annoyance.

**"He won't hurt me,"** Kyuubi answered back lazily. **"Not until he knows that hurting me won't also hurt you."**

Naruto sighed inwardly, wondering if his father had designed it as some sort of a test to be Kyuubi's jailor. Honestly, he should have been crushed by the demon's ego years ago……

"Kaka-sensei," he called out, gaining his teacher's attention. "Shall we sit, or do you want to stand?"

"Just explain Naruto," Kakashi said tersely, his eye still fixed on Kyuubi. Naruto sighed out loud this time.

"After Kyuubi and I merged, he decided to make me find something of great value," Naruto started calmly. "It was a summoning contract for foxes."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He had never seen foxes used as a summons before in battle.

"It had been hidden in Rai no Kuni by Kyuubi in his younger years so no one could use it. That was part of the reason why we went to Raigakure," he added in. "Eventually, with Kyuubi's help, I managed to find it in the hills around Raigakure. As you know, Kaka-sensei, every summoning scroll has a 'boss', or top animal that controls and protects all the smaller ones. For the fox scroll, this boss happened to be Kyuubi."

"But how can you summon him, if he's linked to you?" Kakashi asked in confusion.

Naruto smiled, "The funny thing about our merging was that his spirit was still his own; he had his own mind and memories. I _only_ got his chakra and blood. And the scroll only needed to summon his _spirit_; his physical body is made of pure _chakra_."

Kakashi looked impressed despite himself.

"You see, when I summon Kyuubi his spirit flows out of cracks in the seal and I regulate how much chakra he has to make a physical body, with how much of his chakra I'm able to hold at the moment. His physical body is only as big the amount of chakra he has to mold it with. The person you are seeing right now," he pointed at the human Kyuubi, "is a result of the myth of kitsune youkai being able to shape-shift and the right amount of chakra."

Kakashi's eyes widened; that explained a lot. He stared at Kyuubi for several moments with assessing eyes before asking Naruto bluntly, "Why didn't you tell Sandaime-sama this when we were discussing your past?"

Naruto winced and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Heh……It's not only my secret to tell," the blonde gave an uneasy shrug when Kakashi shot him an incredulous look. "What? It's Kyuubi's secret as well, and he didn't want me to share it. I'm not about to let him destroy everything in his sight, so it Jiji-sama didn't need to know about it just yet."

Kakashi sighed half in frustration and half in acceptance. There was nothing he could do about it now – he couldn't risk sending another message to Sandaime, and it would be a little while until they managed to get back to Konoha. He'd just have to keep an eye on Kyuubi and hope that Naruto would be able to keep a tight leash on the kitsune.

"Why did you summon him?" he asked Naruto.

The blonde was startled but he recovered quickly, "I wanted the old furball to train me!" he declared with an angry glare in Kyuubi's direction. The fox elegantly ignored him, instead opting to look around the forest with the look of casual boredom plastered across his face. Naruto growled several things that Kakashi was sure he learned from Jiraiya under his breath before stomping over to the fox's side and tugging on a long strand of loose crimson hair. Kyuubi abruptly turned and gave the short, thinner blonde a glare.

"_Why_ exactly are you pulling on my hair you gaki?" he hissed out angrily. Kakashi shuddered at the marvolence behind the tone, but Naruto looked calm in the face of danger. The Jounin was mildly impressed; the blonde had to have nerves of steel to withstand such an angry looking Kyuubi.

"You, baka fox, are gonna train me whether you want to or not!" Naruto said, jabbing a finger into Kyuubi's shoulder to make his point. The angry, dark aura that had surrounded Kyuubi when Naruto had pulled on his hair subsided and the demon sighed. Kakashi, for a moment, almost sympathized with him. It certainly wasn't an easy task to be Uzumaki Naruto's teacher.

"I'll just go over here and watch," he said, gesturing to a nearby tree and Naruto shot him a look that said _'I know exactly what you'll be doing, pervert'_. Kakashi laughed nervously and quickly made his way over to his new perch before the blonde could do anything to hurt him or his precious book.

Naruto watched his pervert sensei hurry off and then turned to Kyuubi with a bright smile on his face. Kyuubi gave a long-suffering sigh and lazily moved to Naruto's side.

"One-on-one first, like usual gaki?" he asked casually, feigning disinterest. Truth be told, now that the brat had pulled him from his favorite napping place he was rather eager to spar as well. Naruto was really the only one that could keep up with him now.

Naruto's grin morphed into a sharp smirk, an unusual look on the usually cheerful boy's face. Kyuubi felt mildly nervous, but he squashed the feeling down with the thought that he could beat the kit's ass with his hands tied behind his back and his eyes blindfolded. Even if the blondie was close to his level due to all of his training that he undertook……

Kyuubi gave Naruto a smirk of his own and felt a bit annoyed when it didn't bother the kit in the least. With a huff he said, "Anytime kitling," and disappeared into the foliage nearby to wait. Naruto rolled his eyes and then activated his Reiki-Metsuki to search for the demon. It wasn't long until he found Kyuubi's aura hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree; the bright crimson and orange core was unmistakable. With a smirk he silently made a hand seal and slid into the shadows.

Kyuubi cursed under his breath; why had Raiden even taught the kid that trick? Moving by shadows was simple, but it was a rare thing to find in the shinobi world. However, Naruto was a master at it. Every time they fought it was one of his clear advantages over Kyuubi; he could move anywhere in the blink of an eye and without being seen. Abruptly the kitsune demon whirled around just in time to block a hit from Naruto, who had slid up behind him quietly.

The two exchanged blows, and Kakashi noted from his tree that the style that they were using was very _different_ than the one Naruto had attacked him with during the Bell test. It was wilder, fiercer, and ruthless; the style of a very capable and blood-thirsty killer. The Jounin shivered; the style could only belong to Kyuubi and he was a bit wary that the demon had taught it to Naruto.

Weapons were being involved in the fight now; Naruto had one of his fans in his fingers, slashing through the air to make a sharp gust of wind. Kakashi was surprised that Kyuubi let the gust of air hit him and even more shocked when he realized that it had been sharp enough to make a thin cut on the demon's cheek. Kyuubi, on the other hand, preferred his natural weapons; even in his weak, human form he retained his claws and teeth. At the moment they were outstretched to their fullest, the sharp points looking extremely deadly as the sun glinted off them.

Kakashi smiled bemusedly under his mask; Naruto and Kyuubi's faces were alight with a kind of fierce contentment. They looked less like enemies and more like comrades working off some steam on each other. It was astounding to see, if only because Naruto was supposed to hate Kyuubi and everything that he had done to him. The Jounin shook his head; he doubted Naruto could hate anyone, no matter what they had done to him. He was like Minato in that way.

Hearing the story of Kyuubi's attack on Konoha had been……difficult for Kakashi. The hatred for the demon had sat comfortably in his heart for over a decade; to suddenly realize that Kyuubi may have had a valid reason to attack his village threw away all the notions he'd had about the kitsune. It was a disconcerting feeling.

Kakashi's attention returned to the fight when he heard Naruto give a loud cry. Kyuubi had slashed into his arm and the blood was seeping out of the wound, dripping onto the forest floor below. However the long cut was already beginning to heal, and if Kakashi looked closely he could see the red chakra gathering around the wound. He raised an eyebrow; he hadn't known Naruto's healing ability worked that fast.

Kyuubi snarled, pulling back his lips to reveal large and rather pointy canines. He raced at Naruto again, and the two locked in a match, both spinning and whirling with an animalistic grace. Kakashi frowned and pulled up his headband from his Sharingan eye; he couldn't follow the match very well with only his regular one. Quickly the two figures came into sharp focus and Kakashi watched and recorded the fight automatically.

Kyuubi was almost too fast for even his Sharingan to follow, but Naruto was somewhat easier to keep track of, even if the brat was inhumanly quick as well. He watched their taijutsu match with interest; Naruto had switched from the strange, animalistic style they had both been fighting with earlier to the style he had been using against Kakashi. With a start, Kakashi realized that the blonde had gotten faster as he switched styles – apparently Naruto had realized his weakness in speed as well.

Kakashi focused his attention on his student, making sure to gather every piece of detail so he could take a look at the scene later. He needed to know Naruto's true level, so he could know what to train him in. The fact that the blonde had never told Kakashi or even _Sandaime_ about Kyuubi stung more than it should have, considering he had only met Naruto a couple of weeks ago. But now he had a chance to uncover some of Naruto's secrets, and he'd take it while he could.

Kakashi was somewhat impressed with Naruto's creative taijutsu style. He'd been too busy fighting last time to really get a look at what the style was like, but now that he was observing rather than participating he could see what he had missed before.

The style was light and airy, based on speed and agility rather than power. Naruto dodged, ducked, and avoided every hit that Kyuubi tried to give him (making the demon growl rather loudly) instead of blocking them. And, whenever he could, he attacked with his fans, shooting sharp gusts of air towards Kyuubi, giving the demon some deep cuts, no matter that they healed soon afterwards.

Kakashi shook his head. He could see how the style suited Naruto; wind was an element that was playful and serious, hard and light, sharp and soft. The fleet-footed Wind style fit Naruto better than the others; Earth was too heavy, Fire was too temperamental, Water was too slow, and Lightening was too sudden.

Eventually the two fighters came to a stand-still; Kyuubi had his clawed hand wrapped around Naruto's neck, and Naruto's fan was poised and ready to slice Kyuubi's head off. There was some blood covering their clothes and the ground around them, but their healing skills had managed to close up any wounds they had gotten from the fight. Crimson and blue eyes met and made a silent agreement before Kyuubi released Naruto and they stepped away from each other.

Naruto gave Kyuubi a bow and said, "Good fight, Kyuu-chan," he ignored Kyuubi's twitch on the degrading (in his opinion) nickname. "But next time, I'll definitely kick your ass!"

"Like you ever could brat," the kitsune rumbled, looking down at his blood-stained clothes in disgust. He'd have to clean them again……

Kakashi jumped down from his watching place in the trees and set a hand on Naruto's shoulder, making the blonde stiffen. With an eye-smile the Jounin said, "You're very good, Fox-Face. Now I'll have even more trouble trying to find things to train you in……" Naruto snorted.

"I think that'll be it for today, Kyuu-chan," Naruto told the fox, completely ignoring his sensei. Kyuubi frowned.

"All that trouble just for a little fight, brat?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "We'll train later today," he said. The fox nodded and, with a couple of hand seals from Naruto, the chakra body he inhabited poofed away as Kyuubi returned back to his cage in Naruto's mind.

The blonde turned to Kakashi and said, "C'mon Kaka-sensei, I'll help Sasuke and Haruno finish their training."

* * *

Dear God, do old scars ever stop hurting? (The Shining by Stephen King)

* * *

Naruto noticed with amusement that Sasuke was still fuming and glaring at him from across the table. When he had headed back with Kakashi to help out his teammates, they had found that Sakura had already completed the exercise (which, Kakashi had explained, was due to her small amount of chakra and excellent chakra control) but Sasuke was still having some trouble. Kakashi, lazy bastard that he was, had set Naruto to help out his teammate and had left with Sakura in tow. Sasuke, ever the prideful one, had ignored Naruto's presence completely until the blonde had shouted several helpful hints at him after he kept falling from his tree.

Sasuke hated to be helped – he was like his brother in that way, Naruto mused. With a mild smile on his face he continued to dig into his food and ignore Sasuke's death threats via glares.

"Another delicious meal, Tsunami-san!" Naruto cheered, making the older woman blush. However, before she could say anything back a small boy rushed into the room and sat at the table, his dark green hat pulled over his face to obscure his eyes. Naruto eyed him curiously; they hadn't been able to see that much of Tazuna's grandson Inari. With a shake of his head, Naruto turned back to his meal after sending another smile Tsunami's way.

Unknown to him, Inari watched the blonde from underneath his hat, his hands clenching at the happy, relaxed look on Naruto's face. _'Why is he so……content?'_ Inari wondered in frustration. _'He has no right to be happy! He should be depressed!'_

"Why are you so cheerful-looking!" he spat out towards Naruto, making the blonde's head whip up to face him. "You'll never beat Gatou! No matter how hard you train, or what glorious claims you make – when facing the strong, the weak always end up getting killed!"

Naruto eyed him for a moment before saying, "Whatever kid. I'm not like you."

"No, you're not!" Inari yelled out, standing up and slapping his hands on the table. "You with your cheerful looks and happy smile – what do you know about me?! You have no idea how rough life can be!"

The room was silent except for Inari's heavy breathing. Slowly Naruto turned to the kid, and Inari flinched at the cold look in the normally happy blue eyes.

"Let me tell you something kid," Naruto said, leaning forward in his seat. "I've been an orphan my entire life, and I've never had any friends or even anyone to just hello in the streets to. I was ridiculed and beaten for the first six years of my life for something I couldn't help. He," he swung a finger at Sasuke, "lost his entire family to an unknown madman except for his older brother. And he," he pointed at Kakashi, "lost his entire team due to a war and an enraged demon. Now if whatever made you into the angsty brat that's standing in front of me can ever _top_ _that_, then you can preach to me about the hardships of life. But right now all I see is a little boy throwing his own fucking pity party."

Naruto got up and slammed his chair back before storming out of the room. All was silent until Inari, with tears streaming down his face, ran out of the room as well, and everyone still sitting could hear the outside door slam shut as the kid rushed outside.

Tsunami and Tazuna were both staring at Sasuke and Kakashi in horror. "That……really happened to all of you?" Tazuna asked hesitantly.

Sasuke turned his head away, but Kakashi answered softly, "Yes."

Tsunami stifled a sob. She had always been an emotional woman and the thought that these shinobi had gone through that in their lives……

"I……apologize for Inari's behavior," Tazuna said sadly. "When Naruto comes inside, I'll tell you his story. I want him to hear this as well."

The room stayed silent as they all began to eat again, and eventually they could hear footsteps coming down the stairs. Naruto returned to the dining room calmly and then strode over to Sasuke and Kakashi.

"I apologize for telling about your life without your consent," he said formally before returning to his seat, ignoring Kakashi's bemused look and Sasuke's glare. He looked over at Tazuna, silently asking him to explain.

The old man sighed; "Inari has had a hard time of it ever since……" he trailed off, looking troubled.

"What happened to Inari-kun?" Sakura questioned softly, her big green eyes sad. She hadn't known anything about her teammates suffering; she was even sympathizing with Naruto. No one deserved those kinds of hardships, and she felt guilty for having a good life; parents that loved her, a safe home, and good friends.

"……Before I tell you about that, I have to explain about a person who was called "hero" by this island," Tazuna said firmly.

"Hero……?" Naruto echoed slowly, his eyes distant and unfocused.

Tazuna sighed, "It was about 3 years ago Inari met that man. A couple of local boys had stolen his dog, Pochi. They threw him into the lake. Pochi was a puppy – he would have never survived. Inari wanted to go save him, but he couldn't swim – he was a little kid, and I had never had the time to teach him." Tazuna sounded sad.

_"Sorry……Pochi……I can't swim."_

"The kids pushed him into the water after his dog. However soon after that, Pochi remembered that he could dog paddle and made his way to shore. Inari blacked out soon after that."

_"You finally awake kid?"_

"When he woke he was with a man in the forests nearby the lake. He told Inari that he had punished the kids for picking on him. Inari was wallowing in self-pity because he didn't have the courage to go after his dog, even though he couldn't swim. The man comforted him."

_"Yeah……Any kid your age would be afraid."_

"His name was Kaiza, and he was a fisherman who came here to follow his dreams. After that incident he and Inari became very close. Inari's father died early on, and it may have been because of that that they became so inseparable. It was only a matter of time until Kaiza became a part of our family. And……" Tazuna sounded sad, "he was a man that the city needed."

_"Don't worry……Your dad is invincible. Because he loves this city where you are from."_

"Kaiza was the hero of our city. Everyone loved him. But then……" Tazuna trailed off. "Gatou came to the city."

"And then this incident happened?" Kakashi questioned. When Tazuna shuddered violently and didn't answer he asked more forcefully, "What actually happened?"

Tazuna looked up and there was darkness in his eyes, "Kaiza was put to death publicly by Gatou."

Sakura gasped, Sasuke and Kakashi looked surprised, and Naruto sighed.

"He said that Kaiza had been committing crimes against his company – terrorist activities, disrupting the peace, and things like that. He was to be beheaded. The problem was that Inari had come to the execution."

Sakura covered her mouth in horror and Naruto grimaced, his blue eyes sad as they watched Tazuna tell the most painful part of his story. Kakashi and Sasuke both looked sickened.

"He was killed in front of Inari's eyes. After that Inari changed, Tsunami changed……The entire city changed. Kaiza was their hero and to see him killed so easily destroyed any hope of getting away from Gatou."

Naruto was silent. The kid's experience reminded him too closely of his own – to see a beloved adopted family member die right in front of you was something he wouldn't wish on anyone. Finally he got up and made his way to the door.

"Naruto?" Kakashi questioned, "Where are you going?"

Naruto stopped with his hand on the handle of the door. Then he looked over his shoulder and his team marveled at the hard, determined look in his eyes.

"To show that brat that there are still heroes in the world."

* * *

"There was always the promise behind his mocking smile that he knew great things or terrible things, had commerce with levels of darkness I could not possibly guess at." (Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice)

* * *

Samuru Washi made his way to a nearby clearing, muttering under his breath about Kaida and her obsessive need for herbs. However he stopped his grumbling when he felt the heavy press of a familiar chakra when he neared the clearing. Swearing under his breath he considered which the worst evil was; meeting the brat or Kaida's wrath.

Kaida's wrath won hands down.

With a sigh he pushed his hands into the deep pockets of his old leather trench coat and strode confidently into the clearing. Had he been less cool, calm, and collected he would have face-palmed when he realized that the kid he was so wary of meeting was _asleep_. Relieved he knelt down to take a closer look at the herbs growing in the clearing so he could figure out which ones were the ones Kaida had asked for.

More than once his eyes wandered over to the sleeping blonde nearby, wondering why the kid was napping out in the forest. He could feel his heart constrict as he looked at the blonde's face; despite their different coloring he did look so much like……

Washi shook his head. He wouldn't think of that. He only needed to kill the brat, and there was nothing about his looks that could stop him.

He froze when he heard the boy moan lightly. _'Shit, he's waking up……'_ he thought helplessly; he couldn't leave without the herbs, so he'd just have to suffer. _'Goddamn you Kaida.'_

"Hmm……?" Naruto murmured as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes wearily. "Must've fallen asleep……" he added in softly as he stretched out. It was only after he stood up that he noticed the strange man kneeling close by, picking at the herbs scattered around the clearing.

His hair was the same length as Kyuubi's, but instead of the fox's bright crimson its color was pitch black. The man had put it up in a Samurai's ponytail, letting the locks settle elegantly on his back. He had a tanned, sharp face and dark blue eyes set deep into his eye sockets. He wore a long, worn leather trench coat that went all the way to his hells and had slits from the waist to the leg that showed some of the tan pants he wore underneath it.

"Ohayo Gozimasu!" Naruto called out cheerfully, hoping that his happy-go-lucky attitude would hide the slight narrowing of his eyes as he analyzed the guy. There wasn't a headband and no weapons as far as he could see……but that trench coat could hide a lot.

The man turned with a mild smile playing across his face, "Ohayo Gozimasu," he answered back calmly. Despite the general kindness portrayed in his face and tone, Naruto felt a shiver travel up his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. There was something about that smile……

"What's your name, then?" the man asked calmly, turning away from his duty to study Naruto.

Naruto smiled, hoping that his uneasiness didn't show up on his face, "Uzumaki Naruto, oji-san!" he crowed out. "Ne, ne, what's your name?"

The man gave him an amused smile, "Samuru Washi, Uzumaki-kun. Dozo yoroshiku," he gave a bow of his head.

Naruto bowed back, his large smile still plastered on his face. "Ne, Washi-san, do you need any help?" he asked curiously, intent on finding out what exactly about this man had his spine shivering and his mind roaring at him to _run far, far away_. Washi tilted his head to the side, considering, before nodding gratefully. However, Naruto couldn't shake the feeling that even this display was fake in some way.

Washi watched as the little blonde made his way over, wondering how the kid could be so……cheerful. His smile was open and warm, and his eyes……they showed his emotions to the fullest. Washi had always been surrounded by people who didn't show their feelings or their thoughts; people like Kaida and Naruto, who wore their hearts on their sleeves, drew him in.

"I'm looking for herbs that look like this," he held up a dark green leaf with a purple-red stem. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed. He recognized that leaf……

"Mugwort?" he asked, surprised. Washi looked startled; he hadn't expected Naruto to recognize the plant.

"Very good, Uzumaki-kun," he said with a kind smile. "We're also looking for one of these," he held up another, lighter green leaf, "and one of these," this one was also lighter green and was shaped more like a flower than a leaf. Naruto frowned again; he'd seen all sorts of plants on his travels, and these two seemed familiar.

"Feverfew……" he said softly, "and Woodruff if I'm not mistaken."

Washi nodded, impressed despite himself at Naruto's knowledge. The traveling the brat had done had obviously done something good for him. There weren't many people outside of healers and medic-nins who could identify those herbs.

Naruto gave Washi a smile and then scampered off to help look for the herbs. Washi watched him go with a bemused look on his face; Uzumaki Naruto wasn't acting like he had expected him to. The blonde was knowledgeable about herbs and extremely kind to strangers; something he would have never counted on. He shook his head and started to search the ground again for the plants Kaida had asked for. He was also searching for one extra plant……but he had decided not to tell Naruto about that one after he saw how well the brat knew his herbs. _Belladonna_ would be too suspicious of a plant for him to collect.

"Washi-san!" A half-hour later, Naruto's voice cut through the clearing as the blonde bounced back to Washi, his arms full of three different green leaves. Hastily Washi got out the bag Kaida had given to him and let Naruto fill half of it full with the herbs. The blonde grinned at him happily.

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Washi-san?"

Washi gave him a mild smile back, "No, I should be fine now Uzumaki-kun. Thanks for your help." Naruto nodded and ran off.

The kind smile Washi had been wearing melted off his face and was replaced with a calculating look. He would have to tell Kaida about this little encounter……And maybe when they met again, he would show Naruto exactly _who_ he had been helping. A smirk curled at the edge of his lips as Washi straightened, gathered his bag, and left the clearing whistling.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Guys, I am _so_ sorry it took me this long to get a chapter out. Unfortunately schoolwork and projects are piling up on me – finals are coming, and I just don't have the time or willpower to hunker down and type for an hour or two. I'm half-asleep through most of the day, and I'm lucky I had enough brain-power to work out this chapter. I'm sorry to say that until Semester ends Chapter 7 will be on hold. After the 25th I'll be able to pick up on my updates. Some of this chapter was taken from the manga; Inari's past, and the tree-climbing exercise.

**SPOLIERS (Chapter 384, Naruto Shippuden): **Noooo! Itachi-kun, you can't die! How can a wimp like Sasuke kill you?! What does Sasuke want to ask Itachi? Will Sasuke kill him, or with Itachi survive? Dear lord, why do I have to wait for the next chapter?!


	7. In Which A Bridge is Fought On

**Author's Note:** Unwritten is back, and here is Chapter 7! Thanks for all your lovely reviews!

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Seven: In Which A Bridge is Fought On**

"But forgiveness……I'll hold on to that fragile slice of hope and keep it close, remembering that in each of us lie good and bad, light and dark, art and pain, choice and regret, cruelty and sacrifice. We're each our own _chiaroscuro_, our own bit of illusion fighting to emerge into something solid, something real. We've got to forgive ourselves that. I must remember to forgive myself. Because there's an awful lot of gray to work with. No one can live in the light all the time." (A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray)

* * *

**Nami no Kuni  
****The 20****th**** of May**

"Naruto!" Kakashi called up the stairs. "Hurry up and get down here – Tazuna-san needs to go work on the bridge!"

He frowned when he still didn't receive an answer, but just as he was about to walk up the stairs and see what was taking his student so long, Tsunami appeared at his side and put a delicate hand on his arm. He looked down at her in question.

"Naruto-kun came in very late from training last night," she told him quietly. "I heard him on the stairs. I checked in on him earlier; he's still asleep, Kakashi-san."

_'Chakra exhaustion'_ Kakashi thought. He hadn't expected Naruto to get that, mainly because he had access to Kyuubi's chakra, but it was still possible. Hopefully the brat would recover soon, because he didn't want to leave all the work to his other ducklings. With a sigh he turned to look at Sakura and Sasuke, who were watching everything from the door.

"Come on," he said, walking past them out the door. "It looks like Fox-Face won't be coming with us now. Tsunami-chan – tell Naruto to come to the bridge when he gets off his ass will you?" without looking back Kakashi waved his hand over his shoulder and made his way to Tazuna, who was standing a little ways off to the side of the house. Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a look before hurrying after their sensei.

Tsunami watched them go with an amused smile playing across her face. Honestly, she hadn't known what to expect when her father had told her about hiring ninjas; she had been afraid that they would be soulless, emotionless monsters, like the rumors around Nami said. But she had been happy to be wrong; Team 7 was full of life and emotion.

Tsunami sighed and stared up the stairs. Naruto was by far her favorite person on Team 7, with his compliments on her cooking and his determination to help her son. She was worried about him; he had seemed so exhausted when she had checked on him earlier. It made her anxious that children as young as Kakashi-san's students working themselves so hard; surely it wasn't good for their health!

Tsunami sighed again and went into the kitchen, intent on baking something to clear her frenzied thoughts.

Two hours later and Tsunami felt much better, despite being covered in flour with the smell of bread and milk on her hands. Cooking was relaxing; the routine of baking things helped settle her mind. With a sigh Tsunami left the kitchen and was about to go upstairs and clean herself off when she heard a heavy knock on the door. With a frown she went to answer it.

Upstairs, Uzumaki Naruto was already awake and dressed; he had woken up a few minutes ago and had guessed that his team had left him behind when he couldn't sense any of them in the house. He had just put on his weapons when he sensed the strange chakra at the door and had immediately made his way down the stairs to investigate. He was halfway to the ground floor when Tsunami began to scream.

She had opened the door to find two rugged, muscled men staring at her, the large smiles playing across their faces revealing broken yellow teeth. Alarmed, she had instantly made to shut the door, but one of the men had stuck his foot in it, halting the consequent slamming. Tsunami had then yelled for all she was worth, hoping that maybe Naruto would hear and get Inari out.

However he screams were bitten off when one of the men slammed a hand over her mouth. His grin widened and he lowered his face to Tsunami's ear, making the woman shudder in disgust at having his breath dance across her cheek.

"Our employer never mentioned how……pretty our captive is," he murmured and Tsunami shuddered again, but this time out of fear. "Perhaps we should have a bit of……fun, eh Tanzo?"

The other man grinned creepily, "Oh I say we should. But first let's get the brat; wouldn't want him to run away after his pretty mother decided to scream her head off," the smile disappeared and was replaced with a scowl at Tsunami.

"Let go of my mom!" both men's heads snapped up and Tsunami's eyes widened with panic when they heard Inari's voice. The little boy was charging into the room, his only weapon the knife and fork he had been using to eat with in the kitchen only moments ago. One of the men scoffed and kicked Inari away as soon as the boy got close, making the boy slam into the wall. Tsunami screamed and kicked frantically when she saw that her child had been hurt, but two strong hands kept her from moving or making a sound.

"Now," one of the men continued, ignoring the knocked out child completely, "where were we? Ah yes……we wanted the lady to give us a bit of _entertainment_." His hand started to move towards the tie of Tsunami's dress.

"Oho……" the two men's heads swung up as they were interrupted for the second time and they stared at the blonde standing in front of them, arms crossed over his chest. "Two Samurai? I'm guessing you were sent by Gatou……but that's not really much of a surprise." Naruto's eyes flickered from Tsunami, who was watching him with relief to Inari, who was still unconscious near the door and his mouth firmed into a hard line.

Tanzo turned to his companion, "Who's the kid? Didn't that team of brats leave already?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "If you were less stupid," he started acidly, "you might have noticed that only _two_ 'kids' left with Kaka-sensei."

"Watch your mouth kid, or your pretty client dies," one of the Samurai said, holding a short knife to Tsunami's neck.

Naruto rolled his eyes and then casually flicked his wrist, letting the secret senbon he placed there fly out and connect with the clothes of the two attackers. He grinned when he saw that they had been firmly pinned to the wall by the small, sharp weapons. Calmly Naruto walked up to them and took out one of his knives before cleanly slitting their throats.

As soon as they were dead, Naruto hurried to Inari's side. The boy was okay; he'd hit his head when he banged into the wall, but there wasn't any blood so Naruto figured that it wasn't fatal. In fact, the little boy was already beginning to wake up, his dark eyes bleary from pain. Naruto smiled down at him.

"The hero always comes at the last moment," he told Inari. "But you did so well I nearly didn't have to come at all. It was very brave of you to try and protect your mother instead of running away; I'm really proud of you Inari." The boy tried to smile, but winced as his head throbbed.

Naruto ruffled his hair gently and then turned to Tsunami, who was watching a look filled with both horror and gratitude. "Can you take care of the bodies, Tsunami-chan? I think my team's going to need me right about now." Without another word Naruto disappeared from the house in a blur of blonde and black.

* * *

"You don't smolder and you don't make threats; you just go _cold_, and then you make things _happen_. Some folks are made for hard situations." (The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch)

* * *

Kakashi didn't like the feeling of the bridge, and that told him to be cautious. Trained as he was, he never ignored his instincts and right now they were screaming at him that something was going to happen and that it was going to be _bad_. He kept a constant lookout, visible eye moving to scan every part of the lake surrounding the bridge. Whatever was coming, he didn't want to be caught unawares when it happened. 

Sakura was resting against the wall by Tazuna, letting Sasuke and Kakashi take over the watch. She was smiling and laughing with the old man and Kakashi allowed himself a moment to smile. She would be a good woman – he could see it in her moments of kindness. He switched his gaze to Sasuke, who was watching the water with dark, brooding eyes and sighed. This one, however, he couldn't be sure of. Sasuke was so _dark_; he kept his emotions and thoughts so tightly bottled inside of him that Kakashi was afraid that one day he'd explode from the pressure.

With another sigh he turned away from his two students and wondered about Naruto. _'How could he have chakra exhaustion?'_ he thought worriedly; it wasn't an uncommon weakness for genin, but Naruto had merged with _Kyuubi_. What was he training in that he lost so much chakra?

Kakashi was pulled from his thoughts when he realized that the bridge was eerily silent. He turned and he scanned the bridge, trying to find whatever had put the shiver down his spine. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the only unusual thing; the shadows were……_shaking_? Before he had a chance to wonder, two bodies melted out from one of the shadows, and a man and woman stepped into view of Team 7.

The man was tall with long black hair and narrow dark blue eyes. He was dressed in Samurai clothing and had two _Wakizashi_ strapped to his back. The woman next to him was shorter by a full head, but she was robust and muscled. Her hair was cropped short in fluffy blonde spikes and she had eyes that were as black as any Uchiha's. Unlike her companion she was dressed more like a shinobi; white bandages covered her torso and she had on tan shorts and shinobi sandals. A bright red whip was attached to her waist, but otherwise she carried no visible weapons.

"Sakura, Sasuke, protect Tazuna!" Kakashi barked out, a kunai in his hand already. He stepped in front of the strangers and held his weapon out in front of him. "Who are you?"

The two exchanged looks before the woman made a mocking bow and said, "I'm Hoshiko Kaida an' this is Samuru Washi. Now that we're done exchangin' niceties, can we please get on t' th' killin'?" She spoke with a small burr that made her sound like someone from the slums. Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"Gatou?" he questioned. They didn't answer, but Kakashi hadn't needed one. "I thought as much."

The man, who Kakashi now knew to be Washi, had been watching his genin while the woman Kaida had talked. Now he spoke up, "Where's the blonde brat?"

Kaida's head whipped around to look at the genin and then she too grumbled, "Hell, th' Uzumaki gaki ain't here? Takes all th' fun outta it, that does. I was hopin' for a taste of his blood……" she grinned. "But there's still hope, Washi-chan! Th' thugs we sent t' th' old man's house should give 'im a clue real quick. He'll be here." Kakashi felt a flash of worry at that statement but quickly buried it. Naruto could take care of a couple of thugs, and right now he needed to concentrate.

Washi nodded and then turned to Kakashi, eyeing him critically. After a moment he said, "You'll do until Uzumaki shows up. Let's see what the famed _Copy-Cat Shinobi_ has up his sleeve, eh?"

Kaida spun and pointed at Sasuke, who was standing next to Sakura where they were guarding Tazuna protectively. "You! I always wanted t' fight an Uchiha brat! C'mon kiddo, let's see what ya got!"

Sasuke glanced at Kakashi, who nodded. He might be able to take them on by himself, but it would be a good chance to test Sasuke. If things got out of hand then he'd interfere.

Sasuke stepped forward, leaving Sakura to guard a stricken looking Tazuna. Kaida turned to Washi with a grin and said, "Have fun, Washi-chan!" Washi smirked and nodded.

As soon as she stepped away a barrier of shadow sprang up around Kakashi and Washi, cutting off their view of the outside world. Kakashi quickly turned and pounded against the shadowy walls, paling when he found them to be solid and cool. He wouldn't be able to get out and help Sasuke if his student needed it. Turning he glared at Washi, who had watched his panic with detached amusement.

"So you're the great Hatake Kakashi, hm?" he questioned, eyeing Kakashi critically. "You don't look like much. I didn't believe him when he told me about you, but I suppose I should've expected it. Heroes are always bigger in stories than in real life."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "He?" Nobody he knew well would've crossed passed with this man; shinobi and mercenaries didn't often meet unless it was in war.

Washi smiled, but it had a distinct edge to it, "Enough talking, Kakashi-kun," he murmured and leapt at the man.

Outside of their little shadow bubble, Sasuke was fighting hand-to-hand with Kaida, and was losing badly. He was fairly good at Taijutsu - Itachi had taught him the Uchiha's style whenever he'd had free time – but this woman was fast, strong, and flexible. Instead of blocking his punches she twisted around them in the most amazing way; he'd never known a human, even a shinobi, could move like that.

When she did hit back, she aimed like a Medic; going for his pressure and chakra points. Within the five minutes one of Sasuke's arms was limp and his leg was steadily going numb. He growled low in his throat and twisted out of the way of one of her strikes, grabbing a kunai from his pouch as he did so. Quickly he tried to slash at her, but she dodged and slid around him, aiming another punch to his weak leg. Sasuke stumbled when she hit; the numbness was spreading from his knee downwards and soon he wouldn't be able to stand.

Sakura watched with horrified eyes as her crush got thoroughly beaten by the strange woman who had shown up from nowhere. She looked at the giant shadow bubble hanging in the middle of the bridge and felt tears well up in her eyes; Kakashi wouldn't be able to save Sasuke. Her teammate might die, and would have to watch it.

It was in that moment that Haruno Sakura grew up.

Her weepy green eyes hardened and she stepped forward, her hand creeping to the shinobi pouch on her hip. Naruto wasn't here, and Kakashi had explained to them on the way that the blonde was out from chakra exhaustion, so she figured he wouldn't be joining them anytime soon. Kakashi was stuck with the other enemy, trapped inside some sort of freakish shadow box. She was the only one with the ability to help Sasuke, even if she knew that she wouldn't be able to do much. She looked back at Tazuna, who she was supposed to be protecting, and man nodded to her silent question with a slight smile. Sakura smiled back at him and then turned back to the front.

She took another step forward. And then another.

However before she could move again, a warm, comforting hand fixed on her elbow and she turned to see Naruto standing there, watching her with strong blue eyes. Without realizing it, Sakura relaxed. She knew that she wouldn't have been much help to Sasuke (_and that would change, as soon as this was over_) but Naruto……Naruto was strong. He would be able to help. He would be able to save Sasuke.

"Good job," Naruto murmured out of the corner of his mouth and Sakura felt, for some inexplicable reason, pleased. She hadn't liked Naruto at first, mainly because he wasn't trained like she was but she knew, on some subconscious level, that he was a better shinobi than she was. Naruto had insulted and ridiculed her ever since they first met; hearing words of praise from him was rare for Sakura, and she found that she enjoyed it. _'Maybe'_ she thought as she watched the blonde step towards the still-fighting Sasuke and Kaida _'we can be friends after this.'_

Naruto stole one last look at his female teammate and felt a sort of pride well up in him; he'd seen Sakura step forward before he arrived. She'd been planning on helping Sasuke. The old Sakura - the immature braggart that he'd known for the last couple of weeks – would have never done that, even for her crush. Naruto was happy to see that there was a good person under Sakura bitchy exterior.

He turned back to the fight and his eyes narrowed as he saw the blonde woman score another hit on Sasuke, making the brunette stumble. Sasuke wasn't doing so well – anyone could see that. The Uchiha was favoring one leg and his left arm hung uselessly at his side. There wasn't any blood on him – his opponent must not have taken out the scary whip on her hip yet – but he was breathing heavily and unevenly. Naruto rushed forward when he saw that the woman was going to score another hit and successfully blocked her from hurting his teammate again.

The woman's dark eyes widened in surprise and then, to _Naruto's_ surprise, her mouth curled up in a sadistic grin. "So th' Uzumaki has finally arrived……" she laughed wildly, "Now it all begins!"

Naruto dodged her fist and dropped away from her with some confusion. He'd never met his woman before in his life so……how did she know his name? Naruto felt icy fingers creep up his spine.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, dodging away from her flying fists. The woman's grin widened.

"Th' name's Kaida, gaki. That's all ya need t' know 'bout yer killer."

Naruto's eyes widened in confusion. _'Why does she have a grudge against me?'_ he wondered. _'From what I saw, she wasn't fighting Sasuke like this; he was an obligation. But now……it's like I'm her plaything'_. Another shiver ran up his back as he jumped away from curving whip that had tried to tie around his ankle.

Quickly tan fingers rushed through hand seals (_Rat, Dragon, Horse, Rabbit, Ox, Tiger_) and Naruto whispered under his breath, _"Unka Kage no Jutsu,"_ blowing out a gust of dark _air_ that wrapped around Kaida like an air-tight cloak.

As fast as he could, he rushed to Sasuke's side, helping the Uchiha stand more steadily. He whispered urgently in Sasuke's ear; he didn't have that much time until his shadow cloud dissipated and left Kaida ready to fight.

"Listen to me Sasuke, alright? You're not doing so well – I'll do my best to keep the bitch's attention on me while you recover. Focus your chakra into your eyes; as much chakra as you can with as much speed possible. You'll know when to stop okay? When that moment passes, join the fight again, but do it in the sneakiest way possible. Now _move_!" He shoved a stunned Sasuke off to the side just in time as the shadow surrounding Kaida disappeared, leaving a very pissed mercenary behind.

"You little fucker!" she yelled and charged at Naruto, her whip slithering out in front of her. Naruto brought up Ginkaze and blocked off the deceitful weapon, forcing it to bounce backwards. Kaida halted, trying to get control of her weapon, and Naruto pointed his sword directly at her heart, making her freeze. He kept a careful eye on the nasty whip in her hand; he needed to be ready in case she decided to charge again.

"How do you know me?" he asked, as calmly as possible. Kaida wouldn't die until he had answers!

She cackled, "Oh Naru-chan, that's too long of a story t' tell! An' I don't plan on givin' ya that much time!" she rushed at him again, dodging around his pointed weapon, with her whip in one hand and the other glowing with electric blue chakra. Naruto growled low in his throat in annoyance.

As quickly as he could he dashed around the woman, dodging her deadly weapon and doing his best to get close enough to pin her to the ground. Senbon flew from his sleeves, but Kaida wore too little clothing for them to be effective like they had with the samurai earlier. The mercenary was laughing loudly, her whip swinging as she dodged and hit much more effectively than Naruto. Soon he was almost as bad off with Sasuke.

Naruto panted heavily and leapt at Kaida, trying for one last time to pin the woman down. His eyes widened with surprise as he managed to successfully land on her; with his usual amount of luck, Naruto had managed to pick the time that she had lifted her whip to strike at him for his final charge. The pair went tumbling to the ground, their weapons flying out of their hands. Kaida bucked as soon as she regained her senses, but Naruto locked his body onto hers and kept them both firmly attached to the ground. He looked into her crazy black eyes firmly.

"How the hell do you know me?" he asked quietly, and Kaida calmed suspiciously fast.

She eyed him for a long moment and then glared, "I s'ppose it won't be hurtin' nobody t' tell. Not like th' person that would care th' most is alive anyhow." Naruto's heart leapt into his throat. Kaida saw the look of dread on his face and grinned. "Hm……seems like th' gaki is already havin' thoughts 'bout who that mysterious person is. I s'ppose you're smarter than ya look."

"There's no way……" Naruto murmured softly. That would be too coincidental……

"Oh yes, gaki……I was a friend of Uzumaki Ryoma, once upon a time."

Naruto gaped at her, and consequently his hold on her loosened. Kaida took the advantage and rolled them over, pressing Naruto into the ground. She glared down at him.

"Yeah……I bet ya didn't realize that he had anyone, hm? That when ya took away his life, ya caused some nasty heartache for some other people?"

Naruto shook his head numbly. Truth be told, he'd been too busy wallowing in grief to think about his uncle much. However, he never would have guessed that the man may have had……friends. Villains didn't have friends, after all.

"Were you……" he choked. He couldn't say it in words, because if she said yes then he would drown in guilt.

Kaida's crazy aura deemed to diminish at Naruto's question, but her eyes were still angry, "No. But it wasn't from lack of tryin'. Yer uncle saved my life, gaki. Without 'im, I would've been dead in an alley somewhere, my throat split clean open. Somethin' like th' people yer little team saw a couple of days ago, as a matter a fact." Naruto felt bile rise in his throat at the thought. "Hm……well yer gonna die anyhow. Why not tell ya how it all went down?"

_-Flashback-_

_The little girl was cold. _

_Rain was falling heavily and the heavy pattering of water could be heard all over the city. The streets were empty; the times were happier than, and everyone still had their homes. However, the little girl had no one, and she was left out on the street. She would've gone back to the cardboard box that had been her home for the last two years, but one of the other street kids had stolen it._

_The little girl couldn't remember a time when she didn't live on the streets. She knew nothing about herself; not her name, her age, or if she had any family. Everyone called her 'that little girl' so that was what she went by. She cared for herself by stealing from rich people's pockets and, when she couldn't get at that, by simply stealing food. During the days she roamed around her city, stealing here and there, but mostly playing the game 'find my family'. _

_Currently, however, the little girl was sitting on a doorstep, sneezing every once and while because the rain had come up right as she playing and she hadn't gotten out of it in time. She couldn't figure out what was worse; that she was sick or that she was sick and no longer had her comfortable cardboard box to live in. After all, even the homeless needed a place to come back to everyday._

_She rubbed her snot on the sleeve of her dirty, torn shirt that may have been white once but was smudged gray and brown due to old age and mud. Carefully she drew back the long, ragged strands of her greasy blonde hair, wincing when she felt lice crawl against her hand. She tried not to touch her hair that often, because she hated the feel of lice, but it was getting in her face and she didn't want snot in her hair as well as the little parasites. __**(1)**_

_When she heard the cough, she didn't look up at first. She'd learned by now to ignore anyone talking to her; they were either out to get her to do something for them (and she'd heard stories from older girls to never do anything for a man because that was _bad_) or they wanted to give her those pitying looks that she detested more than anything on earth, even sitting in the rain with lice in her hair._

_When the person coughed again she looked up into the dark, deep eyes of a red-haired man. The little girl's black eyes widened; there weren't any boys half as pretty as the man standing in front of her now. Quickly she looked down at her dirty knees, half-afraid to even be looking at someone as clean and good-looking as the stranger was. The man chuckled at her reaction, and the little girl dared to look up at him again. He gave her a dazzling smile, and she felt light-headed. No wonder all the older girls giggled like twits whenever a boy walked by. Not that the little girl thought that they were good-looking – especially not after looking at the handsome man standing in front of her. _

_The man knelt down to her level and looked her in the eyes and asked softly, "Do you have a name, girl?"_

_The little girl nodded quickly, eager to please, "My name's "th' little girl" mister," she said brightly, and she frowned when she saw the dark look pass over the man's face. Had she said something wrong? However, before she could ask her question out loud, the man's face cleared and he was smiling at her again._

_"Well that's not a good name for such a pretty girl like you!" the little girl blushed brightly and the man laughed, his good spirits restored. "Would you mind it terribly if I named you?" The little girl tilted her head to the side in curiosity._

_"Why would ya wanna d' that mister?" she asked._

_The man shrugged, "Everyone deserves a name of their own," he said simply, and the little girl felt tears come to her eyes. She violently shoved them down and then she nodded slowly. The man smiled again, and then thought for a moment before snapping his fingers in delight._

_"I've got it! Your name will be Hoshiko Kaida!" his face was lit up and the little girl watched with fascination. "Hoshiko is 'star' and Kaida is 'little dragon' in Japanese. What do you think Kaida-chan?" he beamed at her._

_The little girl wondered if it really mattered what she thought; he seemed to have made up his mind on her name already. But with the look on his face and her desperate need for affection, she didn't reject the name._

_"I like it very much. Arigato Gozimasu, mister," she said shyly._

_"My name's Ryoma, Kaida-chan," the man said happily. "Uzumaki Ryoma. You can call me that instead."_

_She nodded hesitantly, "Arigato Gozimasu, Ryoma-san."_

_Ryoma laughed, "So polite, for a street child!" he eyed her for several moments, making the little girl shift nervously. Finally he asked, "Hmm……Kaida-chan, do you want to come with me?"_

_The little girl blinked. "Come with ya where?" she asked suspiciously, wondering if this man was like the other men the older girls talked about that wanted _sex_ and _blowjobs_, whatever those things were. From what she heard, they didn't sound pleasant; taking something called a _cock_ in her mouth didn't sound particularly fun. _

_"I'm traveling, you see," he said quietly, as if sensing her thoughts. "I thought about doing it alone, but now I think I want someone to come with me. And, no offence Kaida-chan, but you look like you need looking after."_

_The little girl watched him for several moments, taking in his dark eyes and bright hair, and wondering if perhaps this man would be different. She thought about the warnings of the older girls to never go anywhere with strangers, the warnings of her fellow streets rats to never trust nobody, and the stories she'd heard about the homeless who went with the deceptively kind only to be found gutted in the alley the next day. Then she decided that those thoughts didn't matter and threw them into the back of her mind._

_Smiling she placed her dirty, calloused hand into the much larger and whiter one of Ryoma's, no longer afraid to touch him. "I'd like that," she said simply._

_And, as Ryoma led her down the street under the rain, she thought that Hoshiko Kaida wasn't such a bad name after all._

_-End Flashback-_

Naruto shook his head, partly in amazement and partly in disbelief. That sounded completely unlike the man that had threatened him and killed Hisoka. How could someone heartless enough to try and kill a child save a homeless girl from a life of solitude and despair on the streets?

Kaida grinned at Naruto's look, "Even smart brats like ya have a straight cut view on things," she said.

In that moment Naruto understood. Because of his experiences, and the teachings of Hisoka and Ryoma, he had a different view on the world than his teammates. However, even when he thought that he was seeing shades of gray, all he was really seeing were black and white; the lines were a little more blurry, but the prejudice still remained. He wondered if everyone was like that; thinking that they were seeing both sides of things, but still seeing only what they wanted to.

"What……happened after that?" he asked, still somewhat dumfounded by his new revelation.

Kaida shrugged, "Then……well then we met Washi-chan."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Washi……?"

_-Flashback-_

_Kaida danced eagerly around Ryoma's legs, her clean and lice-free hair swishing loosely around her waist. A knee-length, well-worn blue summer dress covered her body, but she had a small whip attached to her hip to show that she wasn't going to be messed with._

_It had been a year since Ryoma had picked her up from that rainy doorstep. In that time he'd trained her; mostly with the whip, her weapon of choice, and some shinobi arts. She'd loved learning from him; he was patient with her when she lost her temper and taught her everything that he knew._

_They had lived in Mizu during that time, but Ryoma had wanted to move on and so now they were entering the village of Raigakure. Kaida looked at all the buildings and people in awe; Raigakure was the first shinobi village she had ever seen, and it was so big and full of bustling people! Kaida felt like her head was going to burst from all the noise, smells, and sensations around her._

_She frowned when she heard a yell among the crowd and then several gleeful voices. She recognized the sounds; there'd been enough street kids beaten up in Nami to recognize the sound of a mob beating. However, when she looked around no one stopped to help; they just continued with their lives. Kaida's frown deepened and she tugged on Ryoma's sleeve. He looked down at her in concern and then knelt to her level to hear what she had to say._

_"There's a kid gettin' beaten up," she explained carefully. "Can we go help him?"_

_Ryoma gave her a look; the one that said 'I can't save everything Kaida-chan' but the girl just retaliated with her puppy-dog eyes and he caved. Carefully he led her to the sounds and they both gasped when they saw exactly what was happening._

_There was a boy that looked to be about a year older than Kaida lying on the ground, with five beefy boys surrounding him, beating him so hard that he was covered in blood and bruises. Their leader, a skinny kid dressed in rich clothing, watched the entire thing farther away, a smug smile playing across his lips._

_"Hey!" Kaida cried out, and the boys halted as the little girl rushed next to the target, followed by a very lethal looking man. The man gave them hard looks and immediately they backed off nervously, ignoring the furious glances of their employer._

_"You will leave. Now," Ryoma said firmly and quietly, and the thugs left without question. He turned to look at the rich snob who had orchestrated the whole thing, but the boy had left with the thugs. Snorting in annoyance, Ryoma turned to look at the little boy who was being beaten up and was sad to see that he was still conscious, despite the amount of blood flowing out of him._

_"What's your name?" he asked, taking out the emergency supply of bandages he always kept in his shinobi pouch. He tore off a strip with his teeth and began to tend to the boy, right there in the street, ignoring the looks he was getting from the townspeople. The boy's blue eyes widened at the concern._

_"Samuru Washi," he answered in a subdued voice. Then his narrow chin lifted and he said, "Wherever you're going, I'm going with you." Ryoma blinked._

_"What?"_

_"You just saved my life mister," Washi explained. "I owe you a life debt. I'll follow you around until I save your life, and then I'll leave you alone." _

_Ryoma wanted to protest – he had enough to handle with Kaida alone – but the stubborn, determined look on Washi's face convinced him otherwise. Somehow he got the feeling that no matter what he said, the boy would follow him anyways. With a sigh he nodded in consent and continued to bandage his wounds, ignoring Kaida's pleased beam beside him._

_-End Flashback-_

Naruto's face was pale. "You were the friend," he murmured, and wondered why he would feel betrayed that the man he had suspected of trickery had deceived him after all. Kaida saw the look on his face and laughed.

"Washi-chan told me 'bout that little escapade of yers. I fell on my ass laughin' at that one. Imagine helpin' out th' enemy without knowin' an' then findin' out he's not th' friend ya thought he was!"

Naruto growled and rolled them over again; Kaida's grip had finally gotten loose enough for him to move. Without breaking his eyes from her face, he pulled out his dagger and laid it across her neck. However, instead of looking remotely scared, Kaida smiled.

"Kill me, gaki," she said dreamily. "I wouldn't mind dyin', if it meant I got to see 'im again. Course, I'd rather kill ya first but……it'd be nice to be with 'im."

Naruto didn't expect his heart to squeeze at that sentence. He wasn't supposed to feel sympathy for the enemy; he was supposed to kill them and feel nothing. But he couldn't help thinking that Kaida's thinking was remarkably like his own after Hisoka died. For a time after the samurai had passed, Naruto had thrown himself into missions and a part of him had hoped he'd die so he could see his mentor again. Only time and the presence of Raiden and Itachi had helped him through it.

He closed his eyes. He needed to know how the story ended.

"What happened after he died?" he asked quietly, and Kaida's eyes filled with rage once more.

_-Flashback-_

_Kaida looked numbly at the small grave-marker, and wondered how it could have come to this. Ryoma was supposed to have killed his little fucker of a nephew – the one that had the demon inside of him that had destroyed Uzu, her mentor's home. Instead he had been killed, by said nephew. She wanted to scream at the sky, yell out how unfair all of this was; the love her life had died before she had had a chance to confess. Her mentor had died before he had even reached 50. Dear Kami, where was the fairness in that?_

_She turned to see Washi watching the grave marker with weary blue eyes that had smudges of exhaustion surrounding them. She grabbed his hand, twining their fingers together and he pulled her into a hug. They both stood on the grave of the man who had protected and saved them both, mourning until the sun went down and night fell upon them._

_When they left the graveyard, Kaida vowed revenge, and Washi promised to help her with it._

_-End Flashback-_

"I had hoped t' kill ya," Kaida said, and the anger was back in her face and voice. "I still wanna wring yer pretty lil neck an' choke ya t' death! I wanna see yer blood on my hands! An' ya wanna know why?! 'Cause ya killed th' man that I loved, th' man that saved me!" Her long nails bit into Naruto's arm and he winced. "I'll never forgive ya for that, even if ya kill me first and I don't get t' return the favor!"

Before the blonde could reply the giant shadow bubble that had been blocking Kakashi and Washi's fight from the world burst open and Kakashi flew out, landing on the bridge with exhaustion. Kakashi had cuts on his arms and face but most of the still darkening blood splattered on his clothing was from the corpse in his arms.

Kaida screamed as soon as she saw the long black hair of her adopted brother.

Instantly she was clawing, bucking, and biting her way from Naruto's hold, and the blonde let go hastily, watching as the small, blonde woman rushed at Kakashi, screaming her rage. With tears building in his eyes, Naruto flung his dagger with the precision Hisoka had trained in him and hit her squarely in the heart from the back. She fell over with choking on her blood as she died slowly, killed by the same person who had killed the love of her life.

Kakashi gently set down Washi next to Kaida, whose dark eyes were loosing their luster as the moments ticked by. The two of them hadn't talked much, but instead had focused on their battle. Kakashi could honestly say that it'd been a long time since he'd met such a challenging fighter such as Washi. He stole a glance at Naruto, whose eyes had darkened to a stormy blue-black as he looked at the two corpses on the ground. Kakashi frowned heavily; what had happened while he'd been holed up with Washi?

A cry to the side drew his attention and his eyes widened when he saw Sasuke standing close to Tazuna and Sakura, blinking his _blood-red_ _eyes_ rapidly.

"How……?" Kakashi murmured. He'd been worried that Sasuke might take years to achieve Sharingan, like Obito had.

"I told him to focus his chakra to his eyes," Naruto muttered, his eyes still on the mercenaries corpses. "That, and the fright from……Kaida's fight would have been enough to activate the first level of Sharingan. He was supposed to help when he got it; looks like it's a little late for that," Naruto gave a sharp bark of bitter, broken laughter. Kakashi winced and placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"You did what you had to do."

"I know that, Kakashi-sensei," the Jounin knew that Naruto was serious when he called him by his full name, instead of the shortened nickname he had bestowed on Kakashi the day they met. He looked down at Naruto's bowed head and frowned sadly. "I know, okay? I've been doing this since I was eight – killing people! Walking the shinobi path, and making shinobi sacrifices," Naruto's voice was bitter. "This isn't about killing her, do you understand?"

Kakashi frowned; what else would be bothering Naruto, besides the fact that he had killed the woman? "No," he confessed and Naruto looked up at him with dark, stormy eyes.

"They knew my uncle," he said quietly. Kakashi's eyes widened and he shook his head; the sheer coincidence of it boggled his mind. "She told me……that he wasn't a bad person."

Kakashi considered what to say to this. He could lie to Naruto; but that wouldn't do either of them any good. He never wanted to lie to his students, but he wasn't sure if the truth would hurt or help in this kind of situation. So instead he opted for silence, and stood there with one hand on Naruto's shoulder as the blonde stared at the corpses.

The rest of the team approached the pair, with Tazuna trailing slowly behind them. Sakura looked between Kakashi and Naruto worriedly; her new-found conviction to be friends with the blonde hadn't faded with the heat of the moment. Carefully she placed a hand on Naruto's elbow and gasped when he looked up at her wearily. However a small, worn smile broke out over his face.

"Understand now, Sakura?" he asked.

Sakura understood what he was asking; ever since they'd met, Naruto had gone on about how she was unaware of what a real shinobi deals with. And now, looking at the corpses sitting in front of her, and the blood and injuries on her teammates, she felt that he was right. She'd had a vague idea that being a shinobi involved killing, but she had never really _thought_ about it. But maybe now……she understood what it was like. Sakura nodded.

Naruto's smile widened and then he turned to Sasuke, looking him over critically. Then he raised a fisted hand and Sasuke, after a moment's hesitation, gently hit it with his own fist. The two nodded at each other.

"Now that we're done with that beautiful moment," Kakashi said, regaining some of his obnoxious cheerfulness, "perhaps we should go."

Before the team could leave, however, a high-pitched voice echoed off the bridge, "They're dead! Those stupid, no-good, money-sucking leeches! Now what am I going to do?!"

Team 7 turned to see the shortest, fattest man they had ever seen standing at the end of the bridge, surrounded what looked to be hundreds of thugs. Kakashi groaned loudly.

"Let me guess – Gatou?" he muttered at Tazuna, who had been watching his ducklings with sad eyes. Tazuna chuckled humorlessly and nodded.

Kakashi sighed and turned back to his team, but was alarmed to find that Naruto's eyes were focused on Gatou's chubby figure and that the look in them wasn't something even remotely near pleasant. Cautiously he placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder but Naruto shrugged him off and stepped calmly forward.

"You are Gatou-san, I take it?" he asked loudly, calling the man's attention to himself.

Small, beady eyes narrowed at him, "Yes, I am," Gatou said with unmistakable arrogance. Naruto's lip curled into a sneer and his team started; they had never seen such an angry expression on the blonde's face.

Before they could stop him Naruto became a blur of blonde and black rushing at Gatou. The chubby man barely had the time to gasp before his throat was slit with one of Naruto's daggers. Looking closer at the weapon Naruto held, Kakashi raised an eyebrow and turned to Kaida's body. Sure enough the dagger that had killed her had been pulled out and now rested in Naruto's hand.

The thugs that had been gathered around Gatou watched with some sort of dull fascination as their employer's corpse fell to the ground. They were so amazed that they didn't try to stop Naruto when he returned to his team's side as quickly as he had left it, ignoring the surprised looks they were giving him.

"Hey!" one of the men shouted, after they finally realized that Gatou was _dead_. "That was our meal ticket you bastards! Get 'em boys!"

The thugs started to charge at the exhausted Team 7, but they were stopped when a tiny arrow shot through the air and landed on feet ahead of them on the bridge. Slowly everyone turned to look in the direction the arrow had come from. When Naruto's eyes landed on the short figure wearing a lopsided pan as a helmet that was holding the small, child-sized bow his mouth upturned into a laugh and his eyes began to sparkle again. Then, he burst out laughing.

The thugs all sneered at the figure, wondering how one tiny little boy could hope to stop _them_, even if he did have some arrows. Then the fog surrounding the boy cleared and they could see the large crowd of Nami villagers standing proudly behind the boy, weapons in their hands and pots substituting as helmets on their heads. Without a second glance back the thugs sped away, cursing the day that they had agreed to work for Gatou.

Naruto was still laughing as the thugs ran away but he managed to get a hold of himself long enough to yell out, "Good job, Inari! Your father would be proud of you!" The little boy beamed, as if this was the best compliment anyone had ever paid him. Knowing Inari's affection for his adopted father, it wouldn't surprise Naruto if it _was_ the best thing he could say to the boy.

Tazuna was hardly able to believe it; Gatou was gone, and the obstacles blocking the construction of the bridge and restoration of his city were gone! He raised a yell into the air, and soon the noise swelled as every villager joined him in his victory cry.

Nami was free once more.

* * *

"Don't be ashamed, Tas. Be thankful you can feel pity and horror at the death of an enemy. The day we cease to care, even for our enemies, is the day we have lost this battle." (Dragons of a Winter Night)

* * *

Naruto sat awkwardly on the grass, wondering if this was such a good idea now that he had managed to convince himself to visit. Why was he talking to dead people anyway? These two……they would never forgive him, and a part of him believed that they shouldn't, for all the reasons he'd had to kill Ryoma. Naruto sighed and looked at the two white crosses sitting in the dirt; one with a whip curled around it, and the other with two swords – one white and one black – crossing in front of it. 

"So……" he started and then trailed off, frowning. What did you say to dead people, anyhow? The only grave he'd ever talked to was Hisoka's, and that memory was blurry from grief and pain. Was he supposed to tell him that he was sorry – sorry for killing Ryoma, for destroying their family, for killing them? But what good would that do – they were dead, and they couldn't forgive him. They wouldn't have in real life, anyhow.

Naruto had been sitting in the grass silently for a long while before he felt Kakashi's approach. The older man plopped down next to Naruto, sitting in a loose cross-legged position that was so completely _Kakashi_ that Naruto almost felt the need to laugh.

"Hm……You do know that talking to the dead is not necessarily a _healthy_ habit, don't you Naruto?" Kakashi said, eyeing him mock-sternly.

"I don't say anything about you porn, Kaka-sensei, so you can't say anything about this," Naruto shot back, tiredly but with good humor. Kakashi evidently heard the weariness in his voice, for his amusement disappeared and was replaced with concern. A warm hand was pressed onto Naruto's shoulder and the blonde looked up into his sensei's eyes.

"Minato-sensei always said that it was a good thing to feel sorrow at an enemies passing," Kakashi told him quietly. "But he said that we also need to move past that sorrow. He said that if we keep the ghosts of those we've killed close to our hearts, they will eventually suffocate us."

Naruto smiled slightly, "Wise words."

Kakashi nodded seriously, "He always did come up with his best speeches over ramen. It was his thinking food."

He managed to startle a laugh out of Naruto, and for that Kakashi was inordinately pleased. Having the blonde look so……depressed made him itchy. Sadness looked out of place on Naruto's face; he preferred to see the blonde happy.

For a while the two sat and stared at the graves; Naruto with weary thoughtfulness and Kakashi with some curiosity and concern. His student hadn't told him the exact nature of the history between the two mercenaries and Ryoma; in fact, the last time Naruto mentioned it had been at the bridge. But Kakashi wouldn't push; he would never push anything out of Naruto that the boy wasn't willing to tell him. He glanced at the boy and sighed; Naruto was depressed again. It was time to leave.

"Come on, Fox-Face," he said gently, helping the tired boy to his feet. "You've barely slept since the battle. We're leaving tomorrow; I don't want you falling asleep on the road."

Without a glance back at the two quiet graves, Kakashi led his student back to Tsunami's house for some well-earned rest.

* * *

People are better off never saying good-bye at all; I rather like to think that we'll meet again someday, and because of that we won't need to say good-bye. (Unknown)

* * *

The entire group stood outside of Tsunami's house. Today was the day Team 7 would be leaving for Konoha; the bridge had been finished early that morning, and their services were no longer needed. Plus all of the genin (even Sasuke, although he wouldn't admit it) were feeling more than a little homesick. 

"Well," Naruto said as cheerfully as possible. "I guess it's time for us to go. Tsunami-chan!" he cried out and the woman jumped, startled. "Keep up your good cooking!" she blushed but nodded. Then he turned to Tazuna, "Take good care of your family, jiji. And remember not to lie to shinobi!" Tazuna grinned at seeing Naruto behave more like old self and shot a thumbs-up at the boy. Finally Naruto turned to Inari, who looked ready to cry. Since the day of the bridge the two had gotten closer; Naruto felt like Inari was his annoying kid brother. Smiling he knelt down and wrapped the younger boy into a hug, whispering a few words in his ear. When he pulled away, tears were streaming down Inari's face and he was sniffling. Naruto chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair before stepping back among his team.

Sakura bowed, "Thank you for your hospitality, Tazuna-san, Tsunami-chan."

Sasuke shrugged and muttered a quiet, "Hn," under his breath. Naruto rolled his eyes.

Kakashi just waved from behind his orange book, making Naruto wonder if he would always be the one to do most of the talking in their team. The older Jounin turned and started to walk away, followed closely by his ducklings. Tazuna and his family watched them go tearfully; all three of them had gotten attached in the short weeks that they had known each other.

"Do you have a name for the bridge yet Chichi?" Tsunami asked her father suddenly, an idea brightening in her mind. Tazuna smiled at her; he already had a name for the bridge.

"Yes! It will be called 'The Great Uzumaki Naruto Bridge'!"

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Well, I kinda cheated you out of the Washi/Kakashi fight, but it was more because I'm not the best at fighting scenes and because I didn't know where to put it in. Hopefully the entire history with Kaida, Washi, and Ryoma makes sense because it was a pain in the ass to write. But anyhow, that's pretty much it for the Wave Arc. Soon the Chuunin Exams will be coming up, but I have some loose ends I have to tie up before we can get there, so it might be one or two more chapters until that Arc starts. And let me tell you now – some of it is gonna be _way_ different. Please leave a review! 

**A Note on Ryoma:** I wanted to make him realistic. Looking back on him, I saw a somewhat flat bad guy that we only knew a couple things about. So I expanded; he know has a little more life, and a little more history. I wanted to show you guys that he was good as well as bad; and that he was never, never _evil_. Thus, I decided to use Kaida and Washi (who were already fashioned in my mind at that time) and see if I could give him some "good guy characteristics". I promise that this will pretty much be the last you see of him besides some vague references. No more major plot with Ryoma though XD.

**(1)** In my opinion, you can _so_ feel lice. I should know – I've had them in my hair twice. Nastiest experience of my life, I can assure you. I can't tell you how disgusted I was writing this paragraph (flashbacks, man, flashbacks) but I wanted to write her as realistically as possible, and it seems pretty damn realistic to me that a homeless, dirty kid would get lice.

**Naruto Spoilers (Recent 3 Chapters): **I just realized I forgot to put this in here...Heh. Anyhow...Woot! Sasuke vs. Itachi at long last! But what's this - Sharingan blinds the user when he uses it too much?! Noooo! The most recent chapter was so fast paced - boom, bang, boom and all the sudden Itachi is plucking Sasuke's eyes out so he doesn't go blind! Guahh! Sasuke-kun, please don't go blind! I like your eyes...Gah...But I don't want Itachi to go blind either, even if he is acting pretty damn crazy...Stupid Kishimoto, making me choose between my two favorite Uchiha. Anyhow - what'll happen next? And what about the Konoha nins vs. Tobi fight, goddamnit?!


	8. In Which a Heritage is Discovered

**Author's Notes:** You guys all rock; I'm still amazed at how many reviews AIT has managed to get since it first came out. Anyhow – the Chuunin Arc will be introduced in this chapter, but like I said before it's going to be a little bit different. Also as a warning – this chapter will most likely include a lot of detail – if you hate that kind of stuff then you might wanna skip ahead. Sorry it took so long for this chapter to get out – real life has been sneaking up on me for the past few weeks, and a little while ago my computer decided to crash. It hasn't been a fun February guys. Sorry this is so short, but I wanted to cut it off at a certain place, so...yeah. Anyhow – enjoy!

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Eight: In Which a Heritage is Discovered**

Every house where love abides  
And friendship is a guest,  
Is surely home, and home, sweet home  
For there the heart can rest. (Henry Van Dyke)

**Hi no Kuni: The Gates of Konohagakure no Sato  
****The 25****th**** of May

* * *

**

Hi no Kuni was bright and hot compared to cold and soggy Nami. It took a while to adjust to for Team 7, who had adapted to the colder and wetter country. However their companions, who were more used to traveling between countries and climates, barely sweated when they first entered Hi no Kuni.

Zabuza and Haku had stayed out of Team 7's way for the week after the battle on the bridge. They had decided to leave Tsunami's house half-way through and move closer to Nami's border to wait for the mission to be over with. When Kakashi questioned them on why they had decided to stay at all, Zabuza had thrown a look a very pointed look at Naruto and had said nothing.

Haku, on the other hand, had explained gently, "We were going to go to Ame no Kuni after our deal with Gatou was finished, Kakashi-san. Seeing as we need to pass through Konoha to get to Ame, we thought we'd accompany you back."

Kakashi hadn't protested after that, and soon the two groups were travelling together in awkward silence across the hot forests that Hi was known for. The rest of Team 7 didn't known Zabuza and Haku very well and as such didn't know what to say to them. Naruto had been quiet ever since they left Nami, ignoring the worried looks of both his teammates and Haku (Zabuza and Kakashi were too cool to look worried, but they did spare the occasional lift of an eyebrow at the blond). With their potential link to conversation silent, the two groups hadn't conversed except for the occasional pleasantry or direction.

Konoha was soon in their sights and everyone in the group (even the ever calm and cool Zabuza and Kakashi) gave a silent breath of relief. Team 7 because they were finally back in familiar territory, and the Mizu pair because……well because they wouldn't have to deal with the silence anymore. While Zabuza was the strong, silent type, Haku preferred to chatter while walking to keep his mind off of the journey, and the never-ending quiet journey had started to get on the beautiful shinobi's nerves.

The group had reached the gates of Konoha with little trouble and little disturbance except for a small incident with the border patrol who had had some trouble allowing Haku and Zabuza to pass into their country. However Kakashi, smooth talker that he was, managed to convince them to allow the entire group into Hi no Kuni. Now they were standing in front of the huge open gates, ignoring the suspicious looks the guards kept sending them every few moments.

"I guess this is where we say good-bye," Haku said with a gentle smile. He bowed to Sasuke and Sakura before pulling Naruto into a hug. "We'll come visit you soon, Naruto-kun. Now that you're stuck somewhere, it will be easier to find you." Naruto huffed but squeezed Haku just as tightly before letting him go. He then turned to Zabuza, who was eyeing him warily, as if expecting Naruto to give him a hug as well.

"Bye-bye Bandage-Head," Naruto cooed, wiggling his fingers at the older man. Zabuza scowled half in relief and annoyance; he preferred an irritating Naruto to a clingy one. "Take _real good care_ of Haku-chan while I'm gone, 'kay?"

Naruto smirked when he saw that Haku was blushing and that even Zabuza seemed a little uncomfortable. They left without saying another word, thought Haku managed to pull of his embarrassment long enough to give a wave before they disappeared from sight.

Kakashi was eyeing the place they disappeared form in shock and Naruto felt accomplished for surprising his easy-going sensei, "They're _like that_?" the Jounin asked incredulously.

Naruto nodded sagely, "Yup. Bandage-Head doesn't seem like the type, but Haku-chan is really stubborn."

Sakura gave them both a confused look, "What're you two talking about?"

Naruto laughed nervously, "Heh……nothing, Haruno-chan, nothing!" The girl still eyed him oddly but calmed at the semi-affectionate use of her name that Naruto had adopted ever since they had come to a truce on the bridge.

As they turned to make their way into Konoha, Kakashi said, "We'll need to report to Sandaime-sama before you guys can go home." Naruto and Sakura groaned but didn't protest, and Sasuke stayed silent, as usual.

The trip to the Hokage Tower was short compared to the hour long wait for the Hokage to see them. Naruto entertained himself by practicing various seals on scrolls, scraps of paper, and the back of his hands with thin, easily washed away ink. Sasuke and Sakura watched him as Kakashi ignored them and read his perverted book while leaning against the wall. Finally they were admitted in to see Sandaime, who was seated behind his desk, looking over one of the sheets of his large stack of papers wearily. When they entered he looked up with a smile that grew when he saw exactly who his next appointment was.

"You're back!" he exclaimed and motioned for them to stand in front of his desk. "We've been waiting for you to arrive for the last three days."

"We?" Naruto said with confusion.

"Raiden-kun and me," Sandaime explained. "But please; tell me of your mission. It sounds interesting," he smiled again and placed his chin on his folded hands, his eyes fixed on Team 7.

Kakashi explained the events of the mission from when they first left (omitting Naruto's warning; he wasn't sure if the brat wanted his bloodline to be revealed yet to his teammates) to the fight on the bridge (once again, leaving out his meeting with Kyuubi and Naruto's training). Sandaime listened quietly until the end and then marked some things down upon a blank sheet of paper before waving Sakura and Sasuke away.

"I have something I need to talk about with Kakashi-kun and Naruto-kun," he explained when they asked why the other half of their team was staying.

When they were gone he turned to Kakashi, "What did you leave out?"

Kakashi sighed (he hated mission reports) and continued to explain about his meeting with Kyuubi, the history between Ryoma and the two mercenaries, letting Naruto fill in some details every once in a while. When they had finished Sandaime looked surprised and thoughtful.

"It's interesting that Kyuubi is helping you Naruto-kun," he said after a while of silence. The blond shrugged.

"He said that he didn't want his vessel to be weak," he explained. "I can see why; weak vessel equals vessel getting killed equals Kyuubi getting killed. It's a way of self-preservation for him."

"But he seemed to have some measure of fondness for you," Sandaime prodded, looking troubled.

"Maybe," Naruto said with another shrug. "However he still hates humans just as much as he ever did and I can see why he would."

Sandaime nodded sadly; he could see why Kyuubi would hate them as well. The room was silent for several long moments before Kakashi spoke up.

"Was there anything else you needed me for, Sandaime-sama?" he asked, face hidden once again behind his book.

Sandaime shook his head, "No, Kakashi-kun, there isn't. I just have something to discuss with Naruto-kun; you're free to leave."

Kakashi nodded and ruffled Naruto's hair (making the blond glare at him indignantly) before leaving languidly through the door. Sandaime watched him go with amusement before turning to Naruto.

"I have something important to discuss with you, Naruto-kun," he started quietly. "I should have told you when you first arrived, but there was never time and I have been busy in the past few weeks. It has to do with your heritage."

Naruto frowned and leaned forward, "What about it? I already have my family scrolls—"

"Nani?" Sandaime interrupted with surprise. "How did you get those? I thought those were lost after Minato-kun died!"

Naruto shook his head, still looking confused, "He left them with Gamabunta – apparently they were to be given to me on my 12th birthday, which is, as you know, the usual age for graduation. Boss was surprised when he found me outside of Konoha instead of it in, but he gave me the scrolls all the same."

Sandaime shook his head in surprise, "It's a relief to know that they survived; Minato was a genius when it came to seals and jutsu, and for his record of his jutsu's to be lost was devastating. However that isn't what I wanted to speak to you about. When Minato-kun died, he left you as the sole heir to the Namikaze Mansion."

Naruto frowned, "Namikaze Mansion? If I had a house why didn't you let me stay there instead of at that tiny apartment when I was younger?!"

Sandaime sighed, "The Namikaze Mansion was locked under an untraceable Genjutsu according to the letter Minato-kun left before he died that explained about his seal and your inheritance. When all the family of age die out, the house goes under lock-down until the remaining heirs become of age. Shinobi generally consider 12 years to be the coming of age due to the fact that it's the usual age to graduate. The Mansion just unlocked two years ago, when you reached your 12th birthday."

Naruto nodded, the confusion on his face clearing at Sandaime's explanation. "Where is it?"

"It's next to the Hyuuga grounds; come, I'll show you there. We can pick up Raiden on the way," Sandaime stood and led Naruto out of the door, waving away the ANBU that had appeared to protect him on his walk. The pair made their way silently out of the building and down the street until they reached the hotel that Raiden was staying at – after all, he couldn't sleep in trees _all_ the time.

The employee behind the main desk looked excited at having the Hokage inside her hotel, but the look soured when she saw that the Kyuubi vessel was with him. However at a stern look from Sandaime she said nothing and instead gave them Raiden's room number. Naruto gave Sandaime a thankful look as they walked away, but the older man just shook his head with a smile; he was happy to help Naruto in any way.

Naruto knocked impatiently on Raiden's door and when the man didn't answer for a while yelled out, "Rai-nii-san, you old geezer, get out here! Your beloved apprentice is back!" Sandaime stifled a snort and Naruto grinned.

The door flew open to reveal Raiden in sleep pants with his hair down and messy and his eyes still caked with sleep. However when he saw that Sandaime and, more importantly, Naruto were standing in front of his door, he became more alert.

Naruto grinned up at his guarding, "Hey, Rai-nii-san."

Raiden sighed, "So the gaki is back then? And my life was getting so _peaceful_ too……"

Naruto pouted as Sandaime laughed, but his smile returned when Raiden pulled him into a half-hug. The man harrumphed at the happy smile on his student's face and pulled away before Naruto could get any _ideas_. He _didn't_ want a repeat of their last reunion; Raiden liked to breathe, thank you very much.

"What do you need me for, Sandaime-sama?" he asked, turning to the old Hokage.

Sandaime smiled, "I just informed Naruto-kun about his heritage and we were about to go look at the house. We were wondering if you'd like to come with us." Raiden nodded, not looking in the least surprised about Naruto's inheritance. The blond frowned.

"You knew about the house?" he asked.

The older man shrugged, "Yeah, I did. I _was_ Minato's bodyguard; I'd been at his house many times."

"Why didn't you tell me about it then?" Naruto asked, poking Raiden in the shoulder irritably.

"I never felt the need," Raiden said, shrugging off Naruto's finger with a pointed glare at the blond. "Knowing you had a house wouldn't have made you come to Konoha sooner, so there wasn't really any reason to tell you about it. I had been planning on informing you about it, but then you went on your mission and there was never a chance."

Naruto pouted but changed the subject, saying, "Get dressed Rai-nii-san! We're going to see my new house, and you can't go out like that – I refuse to be followed by hoards of desperate fangirls!" Sandaime chuckled as Raiden scowled.

"That happened _one time_ gaki, _one time_!" he said irritably as he turned to go back into his room and change. "And it was your entire fault that I had to run around half-naked and wet anyway! If you hadn't done that stupid prank……" his voice trailed off as he disappeared from their sight.

"How was I supposed to know you'd go running around like a chicken without its head if I _happened_ to throw two water balloons on you to make you wake up? I thought you were a better ninja than that, Rai-nii-san!" Naruto yelled back.

"Gaki!" Raiden's voice was muffled, probably from getting dressed, but his voice was still loud and annoyed. He appeared moments later at the door, dressed in his usual black with his hair tied back neatly. Naruto smiled at the annoyed look on Raiden's face but he said no more on the subject of the mysterious prank.

"Let's go, let's go!" he cried out, pulling on Raiden's sleeve childishly.

Raiden gave a long suffering sigh to the amusement of Sandaime, but followed Naruto none the less. The threesome made their way out of the hotel and down the streets of Konoha, heading to the outskirts of the village where the Hyuuga mansion was located. Unlike the Uchiha's, the Hyuuga's didn't have their own _district_ but they still owned a hefty amount of land for their numerous family members to live on.

Naruto wrinkled his nose when they came to the Hyuuga's corner of Konoha – the giant main house and the littler homes surrounding it all looked so……boring. They were obviously traditional houses, but they were bare of people and any color besides those of white and gray. It was a downright depressing thing to look at.

"Follow me Naruto-kun," Sandaime said, pulling ahead of their little group to lead his two companions to the Namikaze Mansion.

Next to the Hyuuga Mansion there was a large space made mostly of grass and a few trees. Naruto was surprised when Sandaime stopped in this space and placed his hands together in a seal, whispering a genjutsu release under his breath.

The air shimmered brightly for a moment then cleared to show a large, four story house sitting where the clearing used to be. Naruto gaped up at it while his inner self crowed about how much _cooler_ his house was compared to the Uchiha and Hyuuga mansions. Unlike the creepy black Uchiha house and the boring Hyuuga mansion, his home was painted in light brown colors and was built in a plainer, simpler style. It had a warmer feeling to it than the other two family buildings, and Naruto liked it better because of that - Kami forbid that he be stuck with something like Itachi-sensei's house.

"_That's_ my house?" he said when he could speak again. Sandaime chuckled.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, this is the Namikaze Mansion. Your father's family was quite rich, in their own right," he said with a smile.

Naruto shook his head in amazement – he'd had no idea that he owned something like _this_. To someone who lived most of their life outside or in a small cottage, the huge mansion seemed like heaven.

"Well what are we waiting for brat?" Raiden said, snapping Naruto out of his daze. "I'll give you the tour so you don't get lost on your way to the bathroom."

Naruto nodded and eagerly made his way to the front door, only to find it locked. Frowning he turned to Sandaime, who pulled out a set of shiny silver keys from under his robes and handed them to Naruto. The blond smiled and carefully inserted the keys, before opening the door and letting it swing forward noiselessly. Naruto cautiously stepped into his new home, somewhat spooked by the quiet, dark hallway he was walking in. However the familiar presence of Raiden and Sandaime as well as the curiosity of what lay ahead kept him moving. Soon he entered the room that he assumed was the living quarters.

The room was shadowed, but thanks to the light shining through the full-length glass windows Naruto could see everything fairly clearly. It was obvious that no one had been in the house since his father died: the living room was still cluttered with _stuff_ – scrolls, empty ramen cups (Naruto snorted – his obsession was, apparently, genetic), clothes, and even dirty dishes (_that_ was nasty – no way was Naruto cleaning that up) was scattered across both the floor and the furniture. However despite the mess (or perhaps, because of it) the room felt homely and warm. The walls and ceiling was painted a light blue, and the single couch and two love-seats were blue also, although they were a darker color. A low coffee table stood in front of the couch, candles and clutter covering it's dark brown surface. Thick white carpet covered the floor except for the small space of hardwood near the windows. Three doors – one opened, two closed – led to the rest of the house.

Raiden whistled as he examined some of the nastier dirty dishes on the short coffee table. "Damn Minato, I knew you were messy but this is just gross……" he muttered under his breath, poking the scary looking mold covering the entire dish. Naruto rolled his eyes when the black haired man backed away quickly as the mold jiggled ever so slightly.

"Come on," he said impatiently, walking out of the living room and through the open door that led to the kitchen. This room was cleaner – no dirty dishes – but Naruto wrinkled his nose as he smelt the putrid stench of rotting food. Carefully he moved to the counter and gagged when he opened it to find rotting fruit and vegetables in the counter, most of it already eaten away by various insects. **(1)**

Naruto quickly backed out of the room; the kitchen wasn't fascinating enough for him to stay there with the disgusting smell. When he re-entered the living room (where his companions were both eyeing the moldy dishes warily) he made his way to one of the closed doors and pushed it open carefully. He heard Raiden's feet shuffle across the carpet as he made his way to follow him. This time he was led into a darkened hardwood hallway which had a door on the side (Naruto opened it to find a simple bathroom) and two sets of stairs – one leading up and one leading down. Naruto hesitantly took the stairs that led up, once again with Raiden following behind him silently.

He reached the second floor with little trouble, though he had been distracted by the pictures lining the stairway. He'd go back take them off the wall later – if there were pictures of his parents, they were going either in his bedroom or the living room. When he made it to the landing, Raiden grasped his elbow and led him down the long hallway, passing a couple of doors as he did so. Finally he stopped halfway down at a door painted a bright red. Naruto raised an eyebrow but Raiden just shook his head and gestured for the blond to enter. With another wary look at his mentor he carefully pushed open the door and was instantly blinded by all the _color_ in the room.

When he could see again, Naruto was astounded by the bright room. _'How could anyone_ sleep _in here?'_ he wondered as he took in the blindingly bright red walls, the obnoxious yellow carpet and the acid green ceiling. The furniture (a desk and a dresser) were both painted the same color as the door with bright yellow lines and swirls covering them, as if someone drunk had tried to re-paint them. The bed was the only normal piece of furniture in the room – the rumpled covers were dark blue and the messy pillows were white.

He turned, still shocked, to see Raiden smiling at him. "Whose room was this?" Naruto asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Raiden laughed at the look on his face, "Your parent's slept in here," he said in pure amusement. "Kami only knows how they managed it."

Naruto whimpered and turned his attention back to the crazy room. Maybe he should be glad he grew up as an orphan if his parent's were crazy enough to make a room like _this_.

Raiden laughed again and patted Naruto on his head, "Don't worry blondie – it was only Kushina-chan that was color-blind. Minato, however, couldn't go against her. The only thing he got in here was the bed, and he had to go off ramen for a month just for that."

Naruto sighed with relief. Now that his eyes had……adjusted to the bright room he looked around, curious to see what kind of relics his family might have left behind. He moved to a small bedside table that he had missed in his previous examination of the room and smiled sadly when he saw that it held a picture of his parents – his father standing behind his obviously pregnant mother, his arms looped around her shoulders loosely, both of them smiling at the camera. He traced the figures behind the glass for a moment before turning back to Raiden, who was watching him with sympathy.

"Let's keep moving," Naruto said stoutly, ignoring the ache in his chest. He was moving in here – he'd have plenty of time to look around later.

"Do you want to see your room?" Raiden asked as he steered Naruto away from his parent's bedroom. "You never spent any time there, of course, but Kushina-chan set one up for you." Naruto nodded and then winced – what if his room was as bad as his parent's? After all, Kushina was the one with the bad taste……

Raiden grinned at the look on his charge's face but didn't say anything about Minato taking over the decorating of Naruto's room the moment Kushina ordered purple and green paint. The poor man had had to go without ramen for two months to decorate his son's room so that the kid wouldn't go colorblind by two.

Naruto's room was right next to his parent's and the door was painted a dark, stormy blue with his name pressed into the wood in blocky hiragana. Naruto smiled and he traced the characters briefly before pushing open the door, breathing a silent sigh of relief when his eyesight wasn't immediately robbed from him.

He ran his eyes over his room appreciatively – either his mother had developed some sense since she painted her room or his father had intervened before things could go too far. His walls were painted the light blue of the sky at dawn and the ceiling was a pale gold, with a darker gold tribal looking sun painted in the middle. The thick carpet under his feet was a dark green; completing the "outdoors" picture he was sure that his father had tried to make. There was a single tall window that showed a beautiful view of Konoha and half of the Hokage mountain (Naruto chuckled when he realized that he could see only Yondaime and Sandaime and wondered if his parents had picked this room just because of that). A large, dark wood crib sat near a waist high table which Naruto assumed to be where his parents changed him. The only other pieces of furniture in the room were a wooden rocking chair and a bookcase half-full with children's stories.

Naruto smiled softly as he made his way around the room – looking in his crib that had an orange baby blanket in it as well as a soft, plush teddy bear missing its right eye, running a hand down the books in the bookcase, and even briefly sitting in the rocking chair in the corner. Finally the blond moved back to Raiden, who had watched all of his actions with a sad smile.

"Let's move on," Naruto said, almost inaudibly. Raiden nodded and steered his charge out of his baby room, moving them down the rest of the hallway to another set of stairs. When he felt Naruto's questioning look Raiden explained the next place he was showing the blond.

"Kushina-chan wasn't just a shinobi – she liked to draw and paint in her spare time too. Since she couldn't cook worth shit and had a horrible voice, she said she needed to exercise her feminine side somehow," Raiden shook his head with amusement. "The attic is always where she would keep her art – I thought you might want to see it."

Naruto nodded eagerly and the twosome made their way up the stairs. The landing only had a short hallway leading to a single door that Naruto assumed to be the attic. Hurriedly he walked over to it, pushing the door open. He sneezed as a layer of dust he had managed to uproot swirled around his nose. Annoyed he kept sneezing until the dust settled, ignoring Raiden's amused smirk. Then he pushed his way further into the attic, eager to see his mother's works.

The attic was nearly completely shadowed – if not for the small window then the place would be pitch black. He turned to Raiden with a question in his eyes and the man nodded before turning to silently search for some sort of candle-holder. He smirked in triumph when he managed to find one attached to the wall and then made a few seals, muttering words under his breath too softly too be heard then blew out a small wisp of fire, enough to lit the candle. Instantly the place was lighter and Naruto could see the covered paintings sitting near the back as well as finished and half-finished pottery, an easel, and a table with paints, pencils, books, and loose sheets of paper scattered over it. Hesitantly Naruto made his way over to the table and picked up one of the books – it was heavy with a bright orange cover that had the initials KU in the corner in bright green. Naruto winced but pulled the book open to glance at some of his mother's artwork.

He was impressed with what he saw; Uzumaki Kushina would never be mistaken as a professional artist, but she was good at drawing – especially when it came to people. Naruto noticed that the people she drew the most were her father, a man he recognized as his uncle and a woman he didn't know but had straight black hair and warm, kind eyes. Naruto searched for some sort of inscription and was surprised when one of the pictures of the woman said in the corner: 'My best and truest friend; Uchiha Mikoto.' His mother had apparently been friends with Itachi's mother……how strange. In a different world he might've grown up knowing Itachi and Sasuke as family or something close to it. _'Small world'_ he thought with a shake of his head and continued to turn the pages. Once he had finished with the book he moved on to the next, looking at every picture if only for a few seconds. Even the loose sheets of paper scattered across the work table were examined.

Eventually Naruto moved away from the table and to the corner, where various sized canvas sheets sat in the corner, most of them covered by cloth to prevent dust from settling on them. Moving to the largest piece – it came up to Naruto's waist in height and it's width was likely a couple inches taller than him – and peeled the cloth away carefully. His eyes widened as he took in a beautifully painted picture of Konoha, painted probably from the Hokage Mountain as he couldn't see the notorious heads anywhere in the background. He stayed with that painting for several minutes, taking the detail and work that had obviously gone into it before covering it again and moving on.

He found several more pictures of Konoha, though none were as large as the first. There were also paintings of his father, his uncle, and Mikoto as well as several other people – Sandaime, an old couple that Naruto thought might be his maternal grandparents, Kakashi, his father's team, and even one of Raiden, who blushed uncharacteristically when he saw the painting. Deeper back Naruto discovered a couple of paintings of what he assumed to be Uzu – one of the city in its natural state and one with its buildings burned and the streets empty. There were several self portraits of Kushina herself (some with her as a child, and some with her as an adult) and Naruto was surprised to even find a painting Kyuubi in demon fox form, standing over a vague, non-descript city.

He went through the paintings with the same care that he had shown to the drawings and made sure to look at every one and carefully cover them so they wouldn't be damaged. He found that his mother, while skilled at sketching, had more talent with paint and ink. He would've liked to see her paint, if she had lived through that night. When the last picture was covered Naruto moved silently to Raiden's side, a sad smile playing across his face. Feeling sympathy for his student; after all, he knew what the blond was feeling - he kept seeing the ghost of Kushina rushing around the attic studio, frantically painting and drawing – Raiden led him out of the attic and back downstairs.

"We'll go to the study next, I suppose," he murmured softly. "We should probably bring Sandaime-sama with us."

The twosome made their way back to the living area, where Sandaime was standing, staring out of the tall windows with his hands clasped behind his back. When the old man heard them enter, he turned around with a smile.

"Ah you have finally remembered me then?" he asked teasingly. However when Raiden only gave him a weak smile and Naruto didn't react at all, Sandaime frowned. Then his eyes softened; for a moment he'd forgotten that he had never cleaned Minato's home up; everything that his parent's owned would still be in place for Naruto to see. Sandaime felt for the blond; to only have the ghosts of your parents was a truly terrible thing.

"I wanted to show Naruto Minato's study, Sandaime-sama," Raiden said calmly. "I thought you might want to see it as well."

Sandaime nodded, his interest aroused. Minato had mentioned his study once or twice in passing as a place where he stored all the jutsu and seal information that he had and wrote down his experiments in making new jutsu. However his successor had never mentioned anything else about the room, which frustrated Sandaime's academic curiosity.

The three of them made their way back into the small hallway, with Raiden in the front to show them the way to their destination. He led them down the stairs that Naruto previously ignored that soon turned into a darkened hallway. Eventually they came to a door.

Raiden stopped in front of the door and abruptly moved aside to let Naruto – who had been following closely behind him – take the front.

When the blond gave him a confused look Raiden said, "Minato put a blood seal on the door."

Naruto hummed in understanding and stepped forward to the door, squinting so he could see the black swirls of the blood seal on the front door. He brought his thumb up to his mouth and bit down with his sharpened canines before carefully wiped the flowing blood on the middle of the seal to unlock it. The seal glowed briefly blue and then became dark again, which Naruto took as a sign that it worked. Casually he pushed open the door and stepped into the study.

Too busy with examining his father's "space" he didn't notice Raiden or Sandaime enter behind him. Like his mother's studio, his father's study was darkened except for the single window letting a small amount of light in. Thankfully he didn't even need to ask Raiden to find a light; soon after entering he saw the room light up thanks to the small fire spell that Raiden had used on the torch on the wall. Able to see more now that the room was lit up, Naruto's eyes widened as he realized that three of the four walls were not actually "walls"; they were instead bookcases built into the walls! And he was even more astonished to see that nearly every inch of bookcase held some sort of scroll or book, the sizes varying from hardly a wisp of paper to a thick roll that took up half a shelf. The only pieces of furniture in the room were the table in the middle that was cluttered with paper and books, one comfortable armchair in the corner, and a desk in another corner of the room that held a gigantic book on its dust-covered surface.

"Wow," Naruto breathed. Whatever he'd expected his father's study to look like, it definitely hadn't been _this_! He eagerly made his way to the shelves, picking up scrolls at random and skimming them. He was in awe by the third scroll; each one contained extensive information on a particular jutsu; everything from its seals to how it worked. He recognized the scrawl from the letter that had come with the box Gamabunta had given him; his father had written most, if not all, of these.

Naruto shook his head in amazement and turned to the desk, leaving Sandaime and Raiden to look over some more scrolls. His eager excitement faded as he realized what exactly the scroll on the table detailed; he recognized the original seal for the Kyuubi far too well. He traced the thick black lines with a distant look in his eyes, but shook away his depressed thoughts quickly.

"What else is there to look at around here, Rai-nii-san?" he asked and Raiden looked up from his study on a very interesting shadow jutsu.

"There're still the formal rooms and the dojo to look at gaki. All the empty rooms we passed on the second floor were just guest rooms. Do you want to look at them now or later?" he said quietly, setting the scroll to the side.

"Now, if we can Rai-nii-san," the blond said with a smile. They left Sandaime to rummage through his academic dream room and moved back up the stairs and into the living room. Raiden led Naruto through the door that he had previously ignored and down a long hallway. Soon they came to a set of doors that Raiden carefully pushed open to reveal a small parlor.

"Kushina-chan used to host in here," Raiden said as Naruto took in the room.

The parlor's walls were painted a light gold color, as was the ceiling, and the floor was covered in thick white carpet. A dusty fireplace that obviously hadn't been used in quite some time sat in the corner, in front of it a low white table with three chairs placed carefully around it. A white love-seat sat in the corner of the room, and beautiful paintings that he supposed to be Kushina's framed the walls.

"It's very pretty," Naruto said, eyeing for a moment before taking Raiden by the elbow and dragging him out of the room. The older man grinned; Naruto wasn't really the type to feel comfortable in fancy settings – the blond preferred comfort and hominess to fashion and style. It would be amusing to see his reaction to the formal dining room, but that would have to wait for a moment. He had no doubt Naruto would want to spend some time in the next room they were heading for.

"Come on, gaki, the dojo is this way," he said, leading the brat to a second door located further down the hall. He pulled it open and let Naruto enter first, and was pleased by the blonde's surprised gasp.

The dojo was a large room – larger than the living room, for certain – with a wooden floor and walls. The room was bare of ornaments and decorations; Minato was easily distracted by shiny things, so he had cleared everything out so he could train in peace. His blond apprentice's surprise lay with the large, wall-sized closet that Minato had built into the far wall; currently the wooden doors were flung open to reveal the dozens upon dozens of various weapons kept inside.

The Namikaze family was a clan of warriors, and many of Naruto's ancestors had specialized in weapons and kept them at the family home after they died. Minato had collected every weapon that could be repaired and fixed them, hoping that someday his own children would be able to pick one when they came of age.

"Wow……" Naruto whispered. There were weapons of all kinds piled into that closet: traditional Japanese swords and knives, foreign swords, axes, whips, the whole shebang. If he didn't already have weapons of his own, he'd be rooting through everything in that closet for something to use. Shaking his head Naruto turned to survey the rest of the room and was pleased to see that the dojo was much plainer than the fancy parlor. He had a feeling he was going to be spending a lot of his time in this room, and he didn't want to feel uncomfortable in it.

"One final room, and then we'll pick a place for you and me to sleep," Raiden commented. Naruto turned to give him a surprised look and the older man smirked. "What? You'd leave your poor, desolate mentor to loose all of his money staying in a hotel when you have a home with more than enough room?" he mocked hurt and Naruto rolled his eyes.

With one final look at the wonderful closet of weapons Naruto strode from the room with Raiden close on his heels. At the far end of the hallway there was a single door, which the blond assumed to lead to the room Raiden was blathering on about. He carelessly threw it open but stopped in the doorway as he saw exactly what he was walking into, causing Raiden to bump into his back.

If Naruto had thought the parlor was bad, the dining room was even worse. The carpet was lush and colored a deep gold color, matching the walls. The ceiling had been painted over white with light gold patterning swirled onto it. In the middle of the room there was a beautifully carved wooden table with a lacy table-cloth thrown over it and a few rusted candle-holders sitting in the middle of it. Eight straight backed, carved chairs with a cushioned seat surrounded the table. In the corner, nearly out of sight, there was a small cabinet that held expensive looking dishes (all of them china white with a blue rim) and various glasses that ranged from plain round glasses to delicate looking wine glasses. Directly above the table there was a medium sized chandelier that sparkled in the sunlight passing in through the window on the far left.

Naruto's eye twitched and he turned to look at Raiden, who was grinning at the look on Naruto's face. Calmly the blond slapped his guardian over the head before stepping carefully into the room, almost tip-toeing in his effort to let the fancy place be undisturbed.

He looked over the dishes in the cabinet and was pleased to see that they looked usable. Then he moved to the table, running a hand down the fine lace with a soft smile before slipping back to the door. Raiden, still smiling despite the slap to the head, followed his apprentice out of the dining room, down the hallway, and back into the living room. Sandaime, apparently content with the time he'd had to look over Minato's scrolls, was standing calmly in the middle of the room, looking out the window.

The old man turned as they walked in and smiled, "Have you finished looking at the house?"

Naruto nodded, "For the most part. I'm sure I'll figure out where everything is in a couple of days or so."

"Very well; I'll leave you and Raiden-kun to moving things around, shall I?" Sandaime said, moving towards the front door. "Ah, Naruto-kun – tell your Kakashi that he's to report to Hokage tower tomorrow at noon, will you?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose, "He'll be late, Jiji-sama, are you sure you don't want me to……"

"Tell him to come earlier?" Sandaime finished his sentence. Then he shook his head with a smile, "Don't worry, Naruto-kun; the meeting doesn't start until three o'clock; even if Kakashi decides to be extra late, he'll be on time."

Far away, a silver-haired jounin shivered. Shaking it off he returned to his orange book: the damn fangirls must be talking about him again……

* * *

An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less until he knows everything about nothing. (Anon)

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato: Hokage Tower**

**The Next Day**

Sandaime watched in amusement as Kakashi subtly sulked in his position against the wall in the corner of the Hokage room. He'd managed to make it late, but only by a few minutes; a far cry from the usual two to three hours that he usually walked in. Sandaime shook his head and turned his attention to the rest of his jounin sensei's that were all gathered around his desk.

"I've called you here today to discuss the Chuunin exams approaching in a month," he said, catching their wandering attention. "I would like to know the teams that plan on participating today, if possible. Firstly; do any of the rookie teams plan on participating?" he looked curiously at his rookie sensei; Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi.

Stretching languidly Asuma moved to the front of the room lazily, cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. "Team 10 is prepared to participate in this year's Chuunin Exams," he said. "They work together well, and their jutsu usage is good. The experience would also help temper them – especially Ino."

Sandaime nodded, taking in his son's reasons with consideration. Kurenai moved to Asuma's side, her red eyes distinctly uncomfortable at being the center of attention with so many older jounin.

"Team 8 is willing to attend the Chuunin Exams," she said steadily. "Their teamwork is outstanding, and they've steadily improved individually as well. Participating also may help Hinata's insecurity and temper Kiba's cockiness."

Kakashi started talking as soon as Kurenai had finished, "Team 7 is ready and waiting to participate. Their teamwork is good, their jutsu are excellent, and they're very well-rounded when working together."

Sandaime nodded and told them, "The rookies will be allowed to participate, mainly because I believe this experience will be good for them. Gai-kun," the exuberant man looked up, "would your team also like to participate?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Gai snapped out, giving a salute. "My student's fire of YOUTH burns brightly! They wish to participate in such a youthful contest as the Chuunin exams to test their youth against their opponents!"

Sandaime chuckled, "Very well; the rookies and Team Gai will participate. Is there any other—"

"You can't be serious Sandaime-sama," Iruka, Sandaime's part-time assistant, stood at the old man's shoulder, looking indignant. "How can the rookies join? They're barely out of the academy!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and his head lifted slightly from his book, "You are Iruka-sensei, correct?"

Iruka looked flustered but nodded.

"Well, Iruka-sensei……I understand that you're attached to your students, but the fact of the matter is that they've come far in the last month and a half, and you no longer have the right to protest that they be allowed into the Chuunin exams."

"But--!" Iruka protested. "They can't have changed that much! Hokage-sama, they could be killed!"

The old man sighed, "I know it is a danger, Iruka-sensei, but if their jounin instructor believes them to be ready, then Teams 7, 8, and 10 will be allowed to participate." At Iruka's downcast look he sighed again and added, "However……we will arrange a test to make sure that their judgment is accurate."

"A test?" Kurenai sounded puzzled.

"Yes; every rookie in Teams 7, 8, and 10 will take a fake individual mission with a chuunin to watch their every move. If the chuunin believes the rookie to be capable, they will be allowed into the chuunin exams. If not, then the rookie won't participate. Is that agreeable to everyone?"

Three of the four senseis nodded, while Kakashi just shrugged. Sighing again Sandaime turned to the rest of his jounin, who had watched the argument with some bemusement.

"Now; is there anyone else whose teams wish to participate……?"

* * *

**Author's Note** See I had this structure of the house in my head, but it didn't really work that way when I wrote it down……Hopefully it makes sense to you guys. In case you're still confused, I've posted a link to a map I drew of Naruto's home (I felt a little obsessive after doing that, but it was fun) and you can get to it at the bottom of my profile. As always – please leave a review and tell me what you think! Interaction with Iruka, Tests for the rookies, and some intrigue with mysterious people coming up next chapter, so be prepared!

**A Note on Pairings:** I've gotten a couple people asking about the ItaNaru goodness, so I'd thought I put this up here to stop the questions. During the next Arc (Chuunin Exams) there will be so little focus on pairings that it'll practically non-existent. Only near the very end will there be some more action, and even that isn't much. It isn't until after the Chuunin Arc (and all events that follow) that I'm gonna put more spotlight on the pairings that I had up in the first chapter. So for all of you guys waiting for the quick shag – I'm warning you now be prepared for a long wait XD.

**Another Note:** Heh, I just found out that there are different spellings for "blonde" and "brunette" depending on gender. Supposedly when it's a guy the words are spelled "blond" and "brunet". I had no idea until just now, but I'm not going to go back and change it because I'm lazy. However, from here on out, I'll spell it the right way, so rest easy all you spelling and grammar Nazis.

**(1)** I'm making myself sick again……Damnit I thought I learned my lesson with the lice last chapter!

**SPOILERS (Naruto Shippuden: Recent Chapters):** Gah! I don't know who to cheer for – Itachi or Sasuke? Damnit Kishimoto, hurry it up already! The suspense is killing me! First it's Itachi, then Sasuke, then Itachi, then Sasuke and now Sasuke acting like his usual arrogant ass self and I _wanna know how it's gonna bloody end_! Why do Kishimoto's chapters _always_ end in cliffhangers, why?! And what the hell is happening with _Naruto_ damnit?! Gahhhhh……


	9. In Which Iruka Learns Some Things

**Author's Note:** Please don't kill me? I know I've been neglecting updates, but I swear that Real Life is out to get me! School keeps making me doing that evil thing called 'Homework' and my mom is planning her wedding, and we have to plan to move out of our house……Yeah, it's been hectic. I'm going to try and update faster, but I make no promises. But look – here's my peace offering! Finally AIT has a Chapter 9!

**Warning:** There's a bit of gore in this chapter……Nothing extreme, but it might give you a nasty image or two.

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Nine: In Which Iruka Learns Some Things**

Mission AABA (Rank: C Class)

Shinobi Assigned: Uzumaki Naruto (Genin, age 14) and Umino Iruka (Chuunin, age 25)

Client: Keitaro Goro (Age 21, Black hair, Green eyes, Civilian)

Time Allotted: One Week (June 3 – June 10)

Details: Keitaro Goro is the second youngest son of the current daimyo. He has recently returned from negotiations with Kaze no Kuni, and has requested two shinobi to guard him from bandits while he travels to his home castle. The route will start at Konohagakure and end at Keitaro-sama's castle, which is 105 miles to the Northeast. The shinobi assigned are expected to protect Keitaro-sama at all costs, and will be paid 2,000 yen upon their return. They will meet with Keitaro-sama at one pm on June 3rd at the Northern Konoha Gates.

Signed and Approved by,

Sandaime Hokage

The Hokage Council

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
****The 3****rd**** of June: 10:00 AM**

Naruto wiped his hands on the plain pants he was wearing, giving a satisfied smile as he saw the state of his new house.

He'd spent the last week cleaning out any cobwebs, insects, and other household parasites that might have collected in his home while it had been under the genjutsu. Sandaime had informed him that it was thanks to the genjutsu that the house had survived at all; Minato had designed it partly as a seal and partly as a technique; it would protect all non-living items in the house from harm and decay. The food which had been rotted and eaten by the insects had been living, which is why it hadn't survived the long years in between Minato's death and Naruto's arrival.

Naruto had also moved some of the things in the house around a little. His parent's bed – the only decent one in the house – had been moved into Naruto's baby room. He would've just left it where it was, but the blond wasn't sure he would be able to sleep in his parent's room; he was sure that the eye-smarting painting job would keep him awake.

He looked up and was startled to see a pigeon perched outside his window, a small roll of paper settled into its beak. Beady black eyes gave Naruto an impatient look as the blond made his way over to the window, wondering what Sandaime wanted him for, since there wasn't anyone else in Konoha had owned _pigeons_. He took the paper from the pigeon, ignoring its angry chirp, and unrolled it to find a summons written inside. Sighing he moved into his bedroom and quickly changed from his work clothes into his shinobi clothing before making his way out of his house to the Hokage tower.

Standing outside of the tower he frowned, wondering if he really wanted to subject himself to the long wait for the Hokage's attention. A glint of silver caught his eyes and Naruto smirked when he saw the windows that he was sure belonged to the Hokage's room. Looking around he made sure no one was paying attention to him before speeding up the side of the building to the windows. He was glad that they opened from the outside too, and carefully opened them so he could slip inside.

"NARUTO!" the blond jumped as he hit the ground, whirling around to see a shocked looked Sandaime staring at him, behind him Naruto's teammates, Umino Iruka, and two Chuunin he didn't know. Sheepishly Naruto rubbed the back of his neck.

"I……ah……didn't want to wait forever for you Jiji-sama……" he said, inching towards his team and the relative safety of Kakashi. He inwardly eeped at the look on Sandaime's face. "……Sorry?" he said timidly before diving behind his teacher who, Naruto was sure, was laughing at him silently behind his mask. After a few minutes of angry silence Sandaime sighed and slumped back into his chair.

"Just remember not to do it again, Naruto," he said rubbing his temples.

He suppressed a smile when he saw a hand shoot out from behind Kakashi and give him a thumb up as Naruto chirped, "Sure thing, Jiji-sama."

"Anyhow, before we were _interrupted_," he sent a look at Kakashi, who was currently hiding the perpetrator, but the Jounin just shrugged and stayed where he was. "I was about to tell you that you each will be receiving a mission. It's C-ranked, and it's not a team mission – each of you will be assigned a Chuunin to help you, but otherwise you're on your own."

"Your mission scrolls are here," Sandaime said, pointing at the three scrolls lying on his desk. "They're assigned, in order from right to left to Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. You each have a week to complete your missions. Sasuke-kun, you're partnering with Hagane Kotetsu, Sakura-chan you're with Kamizuki Izumo, and Naruto-kun, you're working with Umino Iruka."

Naruto looked over at the Chuunin and was startled by the angry look on Iruka's face. _'But then again'_ he thought as he turned to face Sandaime again. _'I really shouldn't be. I knew he hated me already. But it never stops hurting when someone looks at me with _those eyes _because of Kyuubi.'_

"Alright, Jiji-sama," Naruto cheered, finally moving from his position behind Kakashi. If his smile was little fake, nobody noticed, and if his cheer was a little forced, nobody saw through it. "You said this one was mine right?" Naruto picked up the middle scroll and moved over to Iruka's side, ignoring the look the Chuunin was giving him. Sasuke moved forward without a word, Sakura following close behind, and they picked up their scrolls also before moving to their respective partners.

Silence grew in the room until Kakashi, comedic relief that he was, chirped out, "My babies, already getting their own missions……They grow up so fast," he wiped away an imaginary tear from his visible eye. Naruto, who was the closest to his sensei, rolled his own eyes and reached up so he could swat at Kakashi's head. He ignored the mock-wounded look he got and turned to his "partner" for this mission.

"We should go over the details," he told Iruka, who gave him a cold look before nodding. With a final salute to Sandaime from Naruto and a bow from Iruka the twosome swept out of the room, leaving the rest of them behind.

* * *

"Man is many things, but he is not rational." (The Picture of Dorian Grey)

* * *

Iruka eyed the blond walking in front of him with distaste. He hadn't wanted to work with the demon brat; he would've preferred Sasuke or Sakura. He had a feeling that Sandaime knew about his hatred and was trying to get him to _like_ the demon, but Iruka knew that would never happen. The kid may have been able to pull the blinders over the Hokage's eyes, but he wouldn't be able to do it to him!

"Is Ichiraku's okay?" the brat asked as they made their way down the main streets of Konoha. It was still early in the morning, so they weren't as crowded as during the day, making it easier for the two shinobi to travel. Iruka shrugged to Uzumaki's question, making a blond eyebrow quirk, but the demon just turned and started to the ramen stand without saying anything.

Generally Iruka liked ramen, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go to his favorite stand with his least favorite person in the countries. But still, he didn't want to argue; he just wanted to discuss this test mission and get as far away from the demon as fast as possible. The sooner this entire thing was over, the better.

They settled onto two of the stalls in Ichiraku's, and the old ramen chef smiled at seeing them there. They were the only ones in the restaurant, as normal people hardly ate ramen for breakfast.

Iruka watched with some confusion as Uzumaki ordered not one, but _six_ bowls of Miso ramen and another three bowls of pork **(1)**. Iruka himself just ordered a single bowl of Miso, all the while wondering if the little blond could actually _eat _that much ramen. Perhaps he was trying to rob Iruka of his money? But Uzumaki had to know that Iruka wouldn't pay for his dinner…… While he was trying to puzzle it out, the demon had turned to him with a serious look etched over his face.

"_Herasu Onkan no Jutsu_," he muttered under his breath, making two seals under the table as he did so. Iruka's eyebrows rose as he felt the heavy press of chakra around him in a manner that felt vaguely like a genjutsu before the sense of it slipped away into the lightest press against his skin. He couldn't help but be reluctantly impressed; Uzumaki was good at manipulating chakra.

Uzumaki gave a chuckle at Iruka's expression, "It's a genjutsu," he confirmed quietly. "It may not be particularly useful since we seem to be alone, but I haven't lived this long by being careless."

Iruka nodded to show he understood; after all, shinobi led a dangerous life.

"Here's the scroll," Uzumaki added in, passing the rolled paper to Iruka. The brunet quickly opened it and read down the flowing Japanese words, taking them quickly before going over it again to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Then he slid it over to Uzumaki, who did the same thing.

"A guard mission, hm?" Uzumaki muttered out loud to himself. Now Iruka knew why the blond had used the muffling jutsu; apparently he liked to talk to himself. "Guarding the damiyo's son, at that……Heh, that means we're getting good money!" he cheered, a bright smile appearing on his face. Had this been a manga Iruka would've sweatdropped **(2)**. As it wasn't, he merely sighed and stood up from his stall, bowing his head over his food in thanks.

"We leave in three hours Uzumaki," he told the blond before turning to leave. As he did so he felt the pressure of the jutsu lift and peeked over his shoulder to see that the brat was still eating his ramen. He sighed again, wondering what his parents would think if they saw him so interested in the brat that had killed them.

* * *

If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to. (Dorothy Parker)

* * *

**Konoha Northern Gate  
****3:30 PM**

Naruto tapped his foot impatiently as he waited by the gates for their client to arrive, Iruka at his side. It was already well past the time they were supposed to meet, and Naruto was starting to wonder if the prince had gotten attacked while he was traveling on the roads. Eyebrow twitching, he was just about to turn to Iruka and suggest they go to the Hokage's tower and get another mission when they heard a call from the forests nearby. Turning so quickly he cracked his neck, Naruto gave a grim smile when he saw the procession headed towards Konoha. It looked like the prince had arrived at last. As the small group came closer and closer, Naruto tried to control his annoyance (really, truly, he did) but having to wait two and a half hours for someone who wasn't_ Kakashi_ (after all, he expected his sensei to be late) wore on his last nerve, especially since their client had made him wait with someone who despised his existence. Despite what Iruka may have thought Naruto hadn't been oblivious to the looks the Chuunin had been sending him.

Only when the procession was within feet of the gates did Naruto finally spot their client. He was carried on a board lifted by four buff looking men, and thin, violet colored drawings kept him from view unless a person was close enough to see the boy's shadow moving behind the curtains. Behind Keitaro, there were four more guards, dressed roughly, with their muscles almost bulging out of their outfits. Naruto sighed; he had a feeling that with his thin build he was going to be harassed until the guards saw exactly how strong he was. It had happened before on missions. Absently, he wondered why the prince was so paranoid that he needed not only eight guards but also two shinobi to accompany him back to his castle. Perhaps something had happened in Kaze?

The four guards that had been carrying the prince stopped in front of Naruto and Iruka before carefully lowering the platform Keitaro was sitting in to the ground. The thin purple curtains were pushed away as a young man made his way out of the carriage, sweeping up to his full height in front of the two gob-smacked shinobi.

Keitaro Goro was definitely someone to look at. His hair reached to his shoulders, and was so black it shone blue in the bright sunlight. He had a pale, handsome face, reminding Naruto eerily of Itachi for a moment before he reached the light green eyes that were the complete opposite of the Uchiha's. He was slender and taller than both shinobi, reaching somewhere around 6 and a half feet in Naruto's opinion. The most outlandish thing about him was his dress; he was wrapped in billowy, dark purple robes that no decent shinobi would be caught dead in, as they would restrict movement too much. Embroidered around the sleeves and hems were tiny moons, the stitching black in color. As he moved forward to greet them, Naruto managed to catch a glimpse of the delicate looking purple slippers on his feet.

"It's excellent to meet you," Keitaro said in a crisp voice, offering them a nod of his head. Iruka, in turn, bowed lowly, as was expected when dealing a daimyo or their sons, but Naruto only gave a simple half-bow. He ignored Iruka's scandalized look and just gave the surprised Keitaro a blank stare; he didn't like giving respect where it wasn't earned, and so far all the boy had done to earn a bow was being born in a prominent family.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, and this is Umino Iruka," he said quietly. "We will be your guards until you reach your castle. Unless there's something you need to do, we should probably head out now. You were just a bit _late_."

Keitaro either didn't hear or ignored the spiteful undertone in Naruto's voice as he answered back with poise, "I am Keitaro Goro, as you probably already knew. There is no business I need to do here, so yes, we can proceed to my castle. Lead the way, gentlemen."

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Iruka, "Do you want to scout ahead or should I?"

Iruka considered it for a moment before shrugging and saying, "I'll do it today and then we can switch. I'll meet up with you before sunset." And with that he disappeared in a flash, making the guards jump and look around wildly. Naruto smiled; they obviously weren't used to being around shinobi.

"Let's go, Keitaro-sama," he said mildly, irritation at the prince all but gone now. Keitaro nodded regally, and waved a hand at his guards to pick up his covered platform. The guards holding the carriage headed out in the front, leaving four more to guard Naruto and Keitaro, who had been placed in the middle of the formation.

"I will walk for now," he said primly, and Naruto raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on the fact that the prince's stately robes would get dirty, and his dainty slippers would be ruined beyond repair. If Keitaro wanted to wreck his clothing, then Naruto wouldn't stop him.

The first hour of walking was spent in silence, as Naruto tried to keep his amusement at Keitaro's walking difficulties out of his face. The noble stumbled over anything in his path – rocks, tree roots, branches; you name it – often tripping himself up and needing Naruto to catch his elbow to make sure he didn't fall flat on his face. When he wasn't stumbling over the ground, Keitaro was constantly shooting Naruto looks; why, the blond didn't know, but he wished the noble would stop it because it was starting to get irritating.

Finally, after an hour and a half of sneaky staring, Naruto stopped and whirled around to face Keitaro, his dark green coat flaring around him melodramatically.

"What is so wonderful about my face?!" he snapped out, inwardly pleased at the surprised look it got him before a cool mask slid over the prince's face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he murmured delicately, starting to move forward again. Naruto's hand on his elbow stopped him.

"Look, I have to guard you so you, so will you please tell me what you find so curious before I go insane from all your staring?!"

Keitaro's lips firmed into an angry line before spitting out, "You don't have the right to touch me, Uzumaki-san, shinobi or not. I am the daimyo's son, and you are nothing but a tool of war. Get your hand off my elbow before I make sure you lose it."

Naruto glared at him, but slowly removed his hand, making the guards, whose hands had been on their weapons as they'd started to move forward, relax back into their positions.

"Keitaro-sama, I don't care who you're a son to; you requested my help, so you will respect me because I am protecting your pathetic ass," Naruto's voice was firm and, despite being four years younger than Keitaro and nearly a head shorter, he managed to make himself look rather intimidating. Keitaro looked like he wanted to protest again but he finally nodded before moving up to where his cloth covered carriage was being carried and climbing aboard it. Naruto sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair, wondering why rich people always had to be snooty all the time. He had an eerie feeling that Iruka wouldn't be happy with him for getting on the prince's bad side.

* * *

Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face. (Nelson DeMille)

* * *

When Iruka met them at sunset, he said that he'd found a good camping spot for the night, and had seen no signs of the bandits Keitaro was so afraid of. Naruto briefly considered if this was like his first C-class mission, but so far he'd sensed none of the fear that had been plastered over Tazuna on Keitaro. Perhaps the noble had overreacted……

They settled into a small clearing nearly half-way to Keitaro's castle, the guards circled around the platform where the prince was sleeping in, and the two shinobi settled against trees, alert and awake. Above their heads the sky rumbled angrily; Naruto had no doubt that it would be raining tomorrow.

Naruto shifted as he tried to get comfortable; he disliked sleeping at the bottom of trees because of all the damn tree roots that liked to find a home in his back. He winced as he felt a glare drilled into the side of his head from his companion. Iruka had been shooting looks at him ever since they'd reunited, and it was driving Naruto up the wall. He knew that the brunet didn't like him, but couldn't he let it rest while they were on a mission?

When the glaring didn't cease after a few minutes, Naruto turned to face Iruka and said angrily, "What?!"

Iruka blinked, caught off guard by Naruto's spite, but then glared back, "Stop moving Uzumaki!" he said in a harsh voice. Naruto flinched, reminded for a second of the beatings he'd endured as a child.

"That isn't it and you know it Umino!" Naruto said, his voice lowering. "You've been glaring at me ever since we've stopped; I know you don't like Kyuubi, but we have a mission to complete for Kami's sake so quit it!"

"Why should I?" Iruka was growling now, and his eyes had narrowed into angry slits. "I have every right to hate you!"

"Yeah, just like all your buddies back home had every right to beat a child for something he doesn't even have a memory of!" Naruto spat back, years of bitterness rising up, not allowing him to let the argument go.

Iruka blinked, surprised for a moment – he hadn't known about the beatings, as he had been content to ignore the brat back then – but then said, "You probably deserved it anyway, Uzumaki. Demons like you don't deserve to exist."

Naruto gave a short derisive laugh that made Iruka turn red with anger and embarrassment. "I _deserved it_. Kami, if it had been any of your other students, you would've given them a fucking hug and some comfort. But all I get is a 'you probably deserved it'. I guess I shouldn't have expected any better from the likes of you."

Iruka stiffened, "What do you mean the _likes of me_? I'm better than you Uzumaki!"

Naruto snorted, "A man who is perfectly fine with a child getting beaten is the scum of the earth, Umino," he said sharply, ignoring Iruka's flinch. "And that all you can say is 'you deserved it' just makes you all the worse."

"You're a demon! You killed everyone! Of course you deserve it!" Iruka cried, ignoring the voice in the back of his head that was telling him what an ass he was being and that he should stop before he started.

"You do have a brain don't you?" Iruka didn't think Uzumaki's voice could get more scathing if he tried. "I was a _baby_ when Kyuubi attacked – more than that, I had _just been born_. I had no fucking choice in the matter!"

Iruka faltered at that; he didn't have a rebuttal to it because it was true, and even with all his prejudice he knew it. The voice yelling in his head got louder, but Iruka wasn't finished yet.

"You're still housing it," he accused. "You probably talk to it and get tips on how to get your revenge."

Iruka was genuinely surprised when Naruto laughed at that; not really the broken amusement of earlier but a more hearty (_real_) laugh. "You're all stupid, you know that right?" Iruka scowled at him, but Naruto ignored it easily. "You do realize I'm an orphan right, and that Kyuubi probably killed at least one of my parents? I have as much right as the rest of you to hate him. And more than that; if you had really wanted me to leave you alone, you wouldn't have attacked me. That just makes me hate you all the more, which could turn me to Kyuubi since he would be properly 'sympathetic' to me after all the crap I've gone through, and then I'd kill you in your sleep anyways. If I hadn't left before the shit you all did got more unbearable, than you idiots would've dug your own grave, sat in it, and had a neon light saying 'ready to die!' printed over your heads!"

Iruka was stuck again; Naruto made perfect sense, and he couldn't find an argument to fight back with that didn't sound like petulant anger at the wrong person. _'That's what it is, Umino'_ the voice in the back of his head said, whispering now. _'That's what it's always been, but you're too stubborn to admit it.'_

Iruka opened his mouth to say something – what, he wasn't sure, but he knew that it had to be _something_ – when Uzumaki jerked his hand up slightly, motioning for him to stop. Iruka froze and instantly stretched out his senses; Uzumaki wouldn't stop their argument for anything less than an attack. And he was right; in the bushes, there was a large group of people; whether they were civilians or not, Iruka didn't know, but it was amazing they had managed to sneak up on them. But then again, they'd been having such a heated argument that they'd been too distracted to notice much of anything. Just as Iruka was about to signal the guards, the attackers rushed into the clearing with a loud yell.

Naruto smirked as he slid away from the would-be attacker intent on chopping off his head, knocking him out with one of his daggers as he flew by to the rest of the group. The guards that had been dozing snapped awake and joined the fray, but with the large amount of people, it was hard to clear the area instantly.

Naruto stayed on defense, preferring to avoid his attackers and knock them out cold rather than kill them as he was sure many other shinobi in his position would do. When he had a free moment, he glanced over at Iruka, only to freeze when he noticed that the brunet was locked with a particularly troublesome opponent and didn't notice another attacker sneaking up on him from behind, a large war hammer held high over his head. With a yell he ran over to Iruka's side, throwing himself in between the back-stabber and his comrade. Iruka half-turned when he heard Naruto's cry, and the momentary distracted was enough for his opponent to give him a nasty arm wound. Iruka turned back quickly and gave the man a kick in a particularly sensitive region before knocking him out cold. Then he turned back to Naruto, shocked at what he saw.

The blond's head was leaking blood, the red liquid matting down his hair and spreading over his forehead and neck. However, even with such a large head wound, Naruto was still standing, his arm raised to block off a spiked war hammer. His opponent, a meaty looking brunet with cruel, dark eyes, raised the hammer again, obviously meaning to strike another blow, but Iruka slid in just in time to strike at a pressure point, rendering the man's arm temporarily useless. His limp fingers dropped the hammer, and Iruka took the opportunity to hit another pressure point in his neck, knocking him unconscious.

Instantly Iruka turned from the attacker to Naruto, who he saw was swaying unsteadily on his feet, his pupils dominating his eyes until only a thin ring of blue was left. Iruka hurried forward and just managed to catch the blond as he fell over headfirst. The weight of Naruto sent them both down to the ground, Iruka cradling the blond close to his body. Even with their heated argument, Iruka couldn't deny that he didn't wish pain on the boy (_at least, not anymore_) and that he was like this because Iruka had been too careless to watch his back made it even more unbearable.

"Uzumaki," he said, looking down into bleary blue eyes, "you're an idiot."

The blond gave him a woozy smile, "Call……me……Naruto……" he wheezed out before falling into the darkness of unconsciousness.

* * *

In overcoming prejudice, working together is even more effective than talking together. (Ralph W. Sockman)

* * *

When Naruto woke it was to white walls and a darkened room. He blinked, vaguely wondering why the elephants stampeding in the back of his head had it out for him, but before he could think on it further he was distracted by a surprised gasp next to him. He tried to turn his head, only to wince as the stampede got worse. Now he understood why manga characters always saw stars when they got a knock to the head.

"Uzumaki you moron," a vaguely familiar voice hissed and then a cool cloth came down on his forehead, feeling ridiculously good against his heated skin. Naruto groaned in relief, and a hand patted his shoulder in a silent 'you're welcome'. Naruto smiled and then fell back asleep.

The next time he woke, it was morning and the elephants had decided to vacate his head and torture someone else for the time being. Glad that he could move his head without drowning in pain, he turned to see Iruka sitting in a nearby bed, brown eyes watching him. Naruto would've found it creepy if not for the worry he could see in the brown depths. Curious he raised an eyebrow.

"Worried?" he asked and winced at how raspy his voice sounded. Iruka silently poured him a glass of water from the pitcher on the bedside table and handed it to him. Naruto sat up (words couldn't express how happy he was that the elephants were gone, because had they been still there that move would've hurt _a lot_) and took long gulps of the water, wetting his throat so when he spoke he wouldn't sound like an old man on his death bed.

"Yes, I was worried," Iruka said quietly. Naruto smiled slightly.

"And here I thought you didn't like me," he crooned, delighted when his voice sounded more normal.

Iruka didn't laugh instead the serious look on his face deepened. Naruto blinked, wondering what he'd said to warrant that reaction. It was true wasn't it? Iruka had definitely hated him before……

"Why did you protect me, Uzumaki?" Iruka asked, his voice holding a mix of emotions, although Naruto could definitely make out confusion and a heavy dose of guilt. He sighed, suddenly understanding Iruka's seriousness.

"We're comrades," Naruto said with a shrug.

"You decided to get your head _smashed by a huge hammer_ for a comrade who hated your guts?!" Iruka said, his calm momentarily gone. Naruto smiled, but it had a humorless edge to it.

"Yes – so noble of me, ne? Comes from being raised by Hisoka," he added in a low mutter so that Iruka wouldn't catch it. As it was, the man was so distracted that that he didn't even notice Naruto replied. Instead he stood, pacing the side of the blond's bed.

"You – I don't understand you!" he cried, throwing his hands up in the air. "First you don't even say anything when I glare at you, you don't defend yourself……And then you suddenly pick a fight last night and say the most irritatingly confusing things! And now you do something like this! There was no reason for you to protect me! I hated you! That alone would be a reason to let him get me!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he gave an angry growl. The sound was enough to snap Iruka out of his rant and make him stare at him with wide eyes. "Do you really have such a small opinion of me to think I'd do something like that to my comrade?" the blond asked incredulously. At Iruka's faintly guilty look, Naruto's angry face slid into one of disbelief. "Kami, you really did," he shook his head. "Kyuubi is inside of me, yes, but that doesn't mean I'm a fucking heartless monster!" Iruka flinched at the demon's name. "I don't like to let people die, and you were coming dangerously close to doing just that! I wasn't just going to sit back and watch!"

Iruka wasn't sure how to react. It had never crossed his mind that Naruto would be angry at him. But then, he'd been too focused on his own emotions to think about Naruto's. The sight of the blond's blood-matted hair and dilated, pain-filled eyes had played in his head over and over during the night. Their argument had shaken what Iruka had thought to be concrete ideas about the brat, and he was beginning to see what Sandaime saw in the blond.

He started when he realized Naruto was staring at him, probably waiting for an answer. "Aa……Gomen?" he said sheepishly. Naruto's angry rant had brought him to his senses, and he could feel nothing besides embarrassment for his earlier anger.

Naruto huffed, crossing his arms over his chest, "……Baka."

Iruka frowned, "If anyone the baka it's you! Why are you sitting up?! Your wounds can't have healed yet, Keitaro-sama doesn't have any medic-nins……" a thought occurred to him as Naruto shifted uneasily. "_Him_?"

Naruto didn't look up instead he stared at his restlessly intertwining hands and gave a short nod. Iruka's lips pursed but he didn't say anything; a tribute to how much the blond had managed to grow on him in such a short time. He still hated Kyuubi, yes, but Naruto's words and actions in night they'd spent with each other was enough to show him that the demon didn't influence Naruto at all.

Iruka sat on Naruto's bed, sighing and murmured, "You didn't have to protect me you know. I can protect myself."

Naruto snorted, "Yeah, and _that_ worked so well." He sent a pointed look to Iruka's arm, which had been wrapped in bandages. Iruka frowned and Naruto rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't have many people that accept me. Your hatred for me has died down; don't deny it, you're worried about me, and you aren't glaring at me like you did at the beginning of this mission. I protect those that accept me _because_ of that, so you're just gonna have to live with it."

Iruka knew that it was Naruto's upbringing that made him feel that way, and absently wondered if the fact that the blond grew up alone at such a young age was a blessing or a curse. Then he realized, looking down at Naruto's relaxed face, that like most things in life it was both.

* * *

Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down. (Unknown)

* * *

Iruka and Naruto made it safely back to Konoha once Naruto had healed, which was well within the one week time-limit Sandaime had set for them. They parted ways amiably, and Naruto had the feeling that while they wouldn't be as close as say, he and Kakashi, they would become friends. It seemed all Iruka needed was a little exposure to the Uzumaki charm after all.

Naruto had planned to go and see Itachi when he got back, but when they arrived at Konoha it had been late at night. With having to report to Sandaime and the long journey back, the blond was exhausted and decided to postpone his visit until the morning, which was why he was currently standing in front of the Uchiha Mansion at noon, wondering if perhaps he should knock again since it seemed Itachi wasn't coming to the door. Annoyed at the delay, Naruto tried to open the door and was surprised when he found it to be unlocked; the Uchiha's really had nothing to worry about in case of theft (no one would dare) but he would've thought they'd be more cautious than that. With a frown on his face, Naruto looked around the first floor of the house to make sure Itachi wasn't there – had he been, the blond was sure he would've answered the door immediately – and then made his way up the stairs to the second floor.

Naruto didn't know his way around the Uchiha house, so he just wandered, opening random doors and getting attacked by the layers of dust in some of the rooms. He was half-way down his second hall when he found his target.

The door to Itachi's room was open when Naruto came upon it, which instantly made the blond suspicious as the rest of the doors had been closed. He pushed it in decisively and was surprised when he saw Itachi standing there, staring out his window, dressed in full ANBU gear. Quickly he made his way to his friend's side, a worried frown on his face as he took in the dried blood on Itachi's clothing and the blank look on his face. For Naruto, who'd been able to read the Uchiha's emotions since he was a child, the disturbingly blank mask was the most worrying thing.

"Itachi-sensei?" he asked, placing a hand on Itachi's shoulder. The Uchiha didn't move. "What happened?"

Itachi kept staring out the window, and Naruto sighed. He'd seen Itachi only twice after he'd received a mission; the first time was when Naruto found him and the second time……well the second time he'd acted dreadfully like he was now. Carefully Naruto took Itachi's elbow and led him out of his room and to a bathroom he'd come across earlier that looked like it was still used. Itachi followed him robotically, and Naruto wondered if he even realized he was moving.

Itachi normally wasn't bothered by missions: he saw them as something he had to do to protect Sasuke and his village, in that order. But ANBU was a hard job, no matter how long a shinobi had been doing it, and sometimes there were missions that broke a person. As far as Naruto knew this was only the second time that a mission had gotten to Itachi, because once he'd come out of his coma-like state the first time he'd told the blond that he would never let Sasuke see him like that. If Itachi would go anywhere after whatever had gotten to him, it would be to Naruto.

Absently he wondered if the Uchiha had gone to his house and felt guilty that he hadn't been able to comfort him before this. He'd been in a heavy sleep for the entire morning, so if anyone had come over he wouldn't have been able to feel it. Although from the look of the blood on Itachi's clothes, the Uchiha had probably been home since the night before.

When they reached the bathroom Naruto turned on the water of the tub, letting it warm as he started to strip Itachi of his clothes. Itachi stared blankly over his head, but moved docilely enough for Naruto to get off his uniform without much difficulty. The blond hesitated when he reached Itachi's pants before steeling himself and getting them off, moving the Uchiha to sit at the edge of the tub when he needed to pull them off his feet. Eventually Itachi was only wearing his boxers, the blank look still present on his face. Naruto sighed and turned on the shower before pushing Itachi in. He let the Uchiha stand there as he stripped to his own boxers and climbed in next to him, silently thanking Uchiha extravagance as the shower was big enough to fit four people instead of just one.

He washed Itachi down briskly, scrubbing off the dried blood that had hardened to his skin and shampooing his hair that still had traces of mud and blood in it. Raiden had been the one to do this the first time Itachi had come to them like this, and Naruto felt a little uncomfortable doing it now but he shoved it into the back of his mind. He couldn't afford to be uncomfortable when Itachi was like this.

When he was certain that he'd scrubbed down the Uchiha well enough, he moved them both out of the shower. Naruto grabbed some towels and dried down Itachi as well, since the blank mask the Uchiha had been wearing since he'd arrived hadn't thawed at all during the shower. When they were both dry, he moved them out of the bathroom without cleaning up the mess of clothes and towels on the ground; he'd work on it later, when Itachi was asleep.

He rooted through Itachi's closet when they were back inside his room, leaving the Uchiha standing blankly by his clinically white bed. In a corner of his mind, Inner Naruto snorted; how like Itachi to have such a dismal looking bed. It would probably kill the Uchiha if he had any personal effects in his room. Naruto pulled out a pair of loose sleep pants and a baggy shirt that he thought might have been Itachi's father's as he could never see the appearance-conscious Uchiha having something of that nature in his closet without a reason. Carefully he dressed his friend and hustled him to the bed, smiling with relief when Itachi's stone like expression softened for a moment.

"Go to sleep Itachi-sensei," Naruto said softly and smiled again as Itachi's eyes slid closed. He sat down at the edge of the bed and pulled a slim hand into his own, hoping that maybe some human contact would relax the Uchiha further so he could sleep. He nearly pulled back when Itachi stiffened, but decided it was that the Uchiha was uncomfortable with someone invading his personal space than anything else. He was right, because a few minutes after Naruto had taken his hand, Itachi relaxed again and soon his breathing was even and deep.

Naruto sighed and sagged into the comfortable bed below him. It was unnerving to see Itachi acting so blankly, even if other people would've seen it as normal. Itachi's behavior this morning probably _would've_ been normal to anyone who didn't know him as well as Naruto and Sasuke did. It was a good thing Sasuke apparently hadn't come home from his mission yet; Itachi had never wanted his younger brother to see him like that, and Naruto respected that.

His mind drifted to the possible reasons of Itachi's state. He knew that it had to be a mission; the Uchiha had still been dressed in his ANBU gear, even though it had blood and mud still on it. But what could disturb Itachi – a man with nerves of hardened steel – so much that he zoned out completely?

The first (and only) time this had happened, Itachi had said it was because of what he'd seen on the mission. They'd been going after what Sandaime had thought was a serial killer; the matter had been hushed up since he didn't want to panic the masses, but the killer had been apparently heading towards Konoha, so he sent ANBU after him to make sure he never got there. One of the ANBU had been Itachi, and they'd come upon the killer just after he'd murdered one of his favored victims; a child or, more specifically, a little girl around had been around 10 years old before she died.

Itachi had described the scene with no emotion in his voice, but Naruto had seen the pain in his eyes. The Uchiha had a soft spot for children; Naruto thought it came from having a younger brother and a child as a student. The autopsy reports that they'd gotten after they killed the madman and sent the girl to a hospital told them that she'd been raped repeatedly, had a few ribs broken possibly from being kicked in the chest, and been stabbed at least 15 times brutally, with seventeen shallower strikes over her body. Her face had been slashed; the ears missing, one of the bottom lips cut off, and an eye gorged out. Her hair had been cut off her scalp and her head had been slashed down to the skull, some of the cuts so brutal that they managed to get past the bone and show some of her brain. Her hands had lost two fingers each, and both of her big toes had been missing. **(3)**

The worst thing, Itachi had told him soberly, was that the doctors thought that she'd still been alive and somewhat conscious during some the torture.

Naruto remembered that he'd had the urge to throw up when Itachi had said that, and had felt tears prickle in his eyes. He'd always been over-emotional (a trait all of his training with Raiden and Hisoka hadn't stamped out of him) but to think that a little girl had had to die in such a horrible way……

Naruto shook his head, pulling his mind back to the present. Itachi had been rightfully horrified when he'd seen the girl. He'd thrown himself into a zombie-like state, shutting down his emotions until the end of the mission when he'd immediately gone to Naruto, Raiden, and Hisoka. It wasn't until he'd been with them for a few days that he'd finally broken through the ice façade. Naruto remembered that was the only time he'd seen Itachi cry, even if it had been only a few tears at the time.

Naruto sighed, and absently rubbed his thumb over the back of Itachi's hand, wondering what could have been so horrible in this mission that Itachi would have to shut down like that again. He knew it had to have something to do with children; Itachi could take anything thrown at him unless it dealt with kids.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto started and whirled around, surprised to hear Sasuke's voice. He'd been so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice anyone coming up the stairs. Sasuke looked tired; there were bags around his eyes and his hair and clothes were a mess, but his eyes sparked as he looked at Naruto. "What happened to aniki?"

Naruto sighed; he'd half-hoped that Sasuke would be gone until Itachi recovered but it seemed that he wouldn't have any luck. Carefully he extracted his hand from Itachi's and moved towards the door, motioning to Sasuke that they should leave before they woke Itachi up. Sasuke gave him a long look but eventually he moved and they went down to the living room to talk.

"What happened to aniki?" Sasuke asked, more firmly this time, and Naruto sighed again, wondering how he could explain this.

"Itachi-sensei is an ANBU, you know that right?" Sasuke nodded sharply. "ANBU is a hard job Sasuke; it may look cool and fun to some of the younger shinobi but it's _not_. ANBU are expected to be killers, assassins. Unlike most shinobi they're required to kill their target or anyone who gets in their way. Out of everyone in Konoha, they're the ones with the most blood on their hands."

"What has this got to do with Itachi?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"Your brother is one of the best ANBU there is," Naruto told him frankly. "He's got nerves of steel and he can take anything anyone throws at him. Normally, he can block out any conscience driven regrets that being an ANBU gives him. But Itachi has a soft spot, partly from having a younger brother and partly, I think, from having me as a student." Naruto paused.

Sasuke gave him a glare, "What is it?"

"Children," Naruto said softly. "Itachi likes children, and I can see why. They have an innocence that shinobi can never have. But I'm getting off-topic. Every once in a while an ANBU gets a mission that causes him to shut down, to "break" so to speak. Most of the time this only happens to the newbies because they haven't had enough experience to handle all the killing they have to do. But sometimes even the veterans have missions that make them break, and Itachi had one of those last night. I'm guessing it had something to do with children; the only other time he's acted like this was on a mission that dealt with them. Like I said, they're his soft spot."

Sasuke had looked thoughtful and confused during Naruto's monologue, but his glare was back at the mention of a past break-down. "What mission was that?"

Naruto shook his head, "If Itachi wants to, he can tell you; it's not my place. I've probably already told you too much; he never wanted you to know about this."

"Why not?!" Sasuke asked angrily. "I'm his brother, I have every right to know about it!"

Naruto sighed, "It's _because_ you're his brother that he didn't want you to know Sasuke. Despite appearances, Itachi-sensei cares about you very much. He just wants to protect you."

"I don't need his protection!" Sasuke bit out. "I need to know when he's hurt so I can help him!"

Naruto smiled slightly, "I told him that he should let you help him as well. But he's your older brother; it's only expected that he wants to keep you wrapped up in cotton wool."

Sasuke huffed and sat back in the couch in annoyance. "You'd think he'd be more practical than that," he muttered. "I'm a shinobi, there's no way he can protect me."

Naruto shrugged, "I never said it was a rational reaction, Sasuke. I just said it was expected. But there's nothing you can do about it now; he's asleep and hopefully won't be waking until night." Naruto gave Sasuke a critical once-over before abruptly changing the subject. "How was your mission?"

Sasuke sighed, "Annoying."

Naruto waited patiently for more details before sighing in exasperation as Sasuke remained silent, "And what _happened_ on your mission?"

Sasuke smirked, his anger fading at the fun of teasing Naruto, before answering, "We were sent to get a scroll from Iwa. One the way back we were attacked by people who wanted it for themselves, and they remained irritatingly persistent for the rest of the journey back." Sasuke hesitated before asking, "What about you?"

Naruto was surprised; he'd never pinned Sasuke as the type to care much about what his teammates did, but then the Uchiha's always liked to surprise him. "Easy enough," Naruto answered. "We were protecting the damiyo's son; a bit of a snot if you ask me, but then all rich kids seem to be that way." Sasuke's eyes narrowed, as if sensing the hidden insult, but he didn't say anything. "We got attacked the first night and I got hit on the head by a hammer; apparently that wasn't a good idea, since it landed me in the hospital," he added flippantly.

Sasuke gave him a glare, "Moron."

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, aren't I? Anyhow, I personally think my mission's back-story is more interesting than yours; it's just like the cheesy romance out of Kaka-sensei's books!"

Sasuke smirked, his anger at Naruto's injury fading in face of the blond's cheerfulness. It seemed Naruto had a special gift for calming him down. "Oh? And how would you know that, idiot?"

Naruto blushed slightly and huffed, "Ero-Sennin – that's Jiraiya in case you didn't know, he writes the books – wouldn't shut up about it when he brought me to Konoha. He kept showing me his notes, as if he expected me to care! And he was always raving on about the 'wonders of a woman's body' and all sorts of perverted crap……" Naruto whined, ignoring Sasuke's smirk. "But do you want to hear the story or not?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Sure."

Naruto sat up eagerly; he liked to tell stories but he hadn't had the chance since the meeting with Sandaime when he first arrived. "Alright. Now first of all, Keitaro – that's the damiyo's son by the way – was on a diplomacy trip to the Kaze damiyo's palace for the last six months. Now Keitaro had been there for a month already when he noticed a woman – don't give me that look Sasuke! – who was dancing at one of the balls those old rich farts like throw all the time. Now in his words she was the most beautiful creature to ever walk this earth – in fact I think he said 'she had eyes the color of the sky, hair the color of the darkest night, skin like the moon' and all that kind of bullshit." Naruto smiled at Sasuke's disgusted snort. "I told you it was cheesy."

"Anyhow, he started to talk to her and found out that her name was Kamita Emi. Keitaro apparently watched her for months before he approached her and told her that he loved her." Sasuke snorted again.

"Stupid," he said to Naruto's questioning look and Naruto smiled.

"Yeah, stupid," he agreed. "Anyhow it seemed that Emi-chan was just as in love with him so they decided 'hey – why not be two randy rabbits and have sex?'" Naruto ignored Sasuke's choke of surprise. "So they slept together for a month, and one day when Keitaro was there another man came through the door to find them in bed together. Keitaro finds out that, oh-oh, this man is Emi-chan's wife and, bigger uh-oh, he's also one of the Kaze damiyo's sons. Immediately Keitaro decided that there'd been enough diplomacy between Kaze and Hi and fled as fast as his two legs could carry him. Unfortunately for him, Emi-chan's husband managed to get a threat to him before he left, which is why he hired us to protect him! Didn't I tell ya it was the cheesiest thing you've ever heard?" Naruto asked cheerfully.

Sasuke shook his head, eyes glinting in amusement, "Only you, dobe, would get a mission like that."

Naruto frowned, "Hey, what do you mean by that?" Sasuke turned his head away, refusing to answer. "Sasuke? HEY!"

* * *

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however……it lasts forever." (Lance Armstrong)

* * *

When Naruto woke later that night, the first thing he saw was Itachi's eyes staring down at him. The blond got a feeling of déjà vu – hadn't he woken up to Iruka staring at him like that not too long ago? – but instead of showing it just smiled at his friend. He was just thankful that Itachi seemed to be acting more normal; the emotions were back in his eyes.

Itachi tilted his head to the side (_'when did you find me?'_) and Naruto said, "I came over about noon. You were still in a daze then. I made you take a shower and go to sleep after that. Itachi-sensei, _what happened_?"

Itachi gave a nearly inaudible sigh and said quietly, "I was disturbed."

Naruto gave him a look, "No really? I had _no fucking idea_!" Itachi didn't react outwardly, but inwardly he was wincing. Naruto was angry, and if there was one thing that Uchiha Itachi feared on this earth it was an angry Uzumaki Naruto. "Now are you gonna tell me what fucking happened or am I gonna have to tie you up and _torture it out of you_?" Itachi shivered; Naruto looked as if he would be all too happy to do just that.

"The targets were not just men and women," Itachi said quietly, hoping that an explanation would calm the blond down. Despite being shorter than most people and having very delicate looks, Naruto managed to be very intimidating when he wanted to be. "There were also……children." He closed his eyes.

Naruto's anger immediately deflated and he took Itachi's hand. "Sandaime usually never targets children," Naruto said quietly. "Why would he this time?"

"Their parent's had started to make them human weapons. They were taken to scientists in need of test subjects and experimented on," Naruto's jaw clenched angrily. "By the time we were sent, they were half gone already."

"What do you mean by 'half gone'?" Naruto asked.

Itachi sighed slightly, "The idea was to incorporate animal DNA into humans to see if that could change them enough to make them better fighters." Naruto's hand clenched around Itachi's and the Uchiha sighed again; he'd had an idea this would be a sensitive topic for Naruto, merged with Kyuubi as he was. He was the type of 'fighter' the scientists had wanted. "There were two children; one a boy and one a girl. The boy had been partially merged with Tiger DNA, the girl with Snake DNA. They had the characteristics……" Itachi stopped, images overwhelming him for a minute. He would never forget the snake-like face of the little girl, or the painful looking claws sprouting from the boy's hands, making the fingers tear and bleed. "They had the characteristics of their animal," Itachi continued upon seeing Naruto's worried look. "Their minds were somewhere between an animals and a humans."

"That's horrible," Naruto said quietly.

"Their screams were the worst," Itachi said quietly, knowing that Naruto was wondering what part of the mission had caused Itachi to shut down so completely. "They screamed at me when I killed them; they were human enough to plead with me to let them live." He was silent for a moment. "Even if they were half-insane, they were still children."

Naruto climbed into the bed next to Itachi and wrapped an arm around the Uchiha's shoulder. "Yeah," he said quietly, "I know."

They were quiet for a while; Itachi was absorbing the comfort Naruto gave him and Naruto was thinking about the mission. Finally, Naruto spoke.

"Sasuke knows," he said and Itachi tensed. "He came in while you were sleeping and I explained most of it." Itachi turned to look him in the eyes and Naruto answered the unspoken question. "I left out what brought on your first 'breakdown'. I didn't think he needed to know."

"You shouldn't have told him," Itachi said and Naruto heard the sharp edge to his voice where everyone else would have just heard monotone.

"You can't protect him forever," Naruto said quietly. "He's growing up."

Itachi was silent at that, and Naruto knew that he'd made a point. _'Sasuke can thank me later'_ he thought with a smile.

"You had a mission," Itachi said after a few minutes of silence, making it more of a statement than a question.

Naruto brightened, "Yeah! Do you wanna hear about it? The back-story was kinda interesting, even if it was cheesy like I told Sasuke……"

Naruto went on to chatter about princes and marriage and forbidden love with Itachi only half-listening, his attention fixed on the blond's presence more than his words. Surrounded by Naruto's light, seeing his cheerful smile, Itachi felt the dark memory of screaming children leave him and relaxed into the bed cushions behind him, letting Naruto tell his story.

* * *

**Author's Note:** And that's the end. Next chapter will deal with the Chuunin Exams. Please leave a review!

**(1)** It's been a month since Kyuubi's deal (the mission with wave took about three weeks or so, and another week added onto that……) so their "trade" is null and void. Naruto's free to eat all the ramen he wants XD.  
**(2)** –cough, cough-  
**(3)** Yeah……I kinda disgusted myself here. Glad I wasn't eating something, or I would've had to stop there……

_Herasu Onkan no Jutsu_ (Diminish sense of sound technique): It's a very rough translation, but I'd rather put it in Japanese than English. The name I was going for was Muffle sound technique, but I couldn't find a word for muffle, so I used diminish instead. The Jutsu is around C-class or so (maybe bordering on B-class) and it gives any eavesdroppers a genjutsu of the user speaking an entirely different conversation while he actually gives the information under the cover of the jutsu. It won't work against extremely high level opponents (such as Akatsuki) but it's a fairly good technique to know.

**Note:** 2,000 yen equals approximately 20 US dollars (I'm rounding up from 19.68), which is probably a good amount to receive for a lower class mission. I'm not an expert on Japanese money, but I trust the computer to a certain extent. If I'm wrong, please tell me so.  
**A Note on Itachi:** The only thing I could think of that would make Itachi "breakdown" is children. Having a younger sibling gives you a soft spot for kids, in my opinion, plus he also had a child for a student. Having to see a child brutally murdered or having to kill one would leave its mark on _my_ Itachi, at least. I can't say the same thing for canon Itachi, unfortunately. The breakdown came from the idea that shinobi are just people and that sometimes missions can be hard.

**Spoilers – Naruto Shippuden, Recent Chapters:** Noooo! Itachiiiii! How could you Kishimoto, how could you?! Take Sasuke instead, damn you, take Sasuke instead! T.T I'm in mourning. I'm wearing black for the rest of the week. Itachi diiiied……-sob- On another note, yey we _finally_ get to see what's happening with the Tobi vs. Konoha fit. Hallelujah! Plus Sasuke passed out……Kukuku……Maybe he died too? Kukuku……


	10. In Which Naruto Meets Another Friend

**Author's Note:** Holy shit, we're in the double digits! Who would've thought I could make myself work this much? XD I'm sorry this chapter took so long – computer troubles and real life have hampered my writing. But you guys rock – over 220 reviews! I think I'm in love!

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Ten: In Which Naruto Meets Another Friend**

Dear Journal,

Rumors have been spreading about the upcoming Chuunin Exams. Kaka-sensei has, of course, kept his mouth shut tight, but I wonder if our "missions" a couple days back have anything to do with them. Genin don't usually get single missions, no matter how awesome they are (yes that was arrogant but hey – if a guy can't be prideful in his journal, where can he be?). Maa, I guess we'll find out today. Kaka-sensei scheduled the first team meeting for Team 7 since our missions.

But on to other matters. Rai-nii-san is hanging around somewhere in Konoha – knowing him, he'll pop up at the least expected time and ask me if I wanna train. This time I'm saying no, once and for all! Stupid flirt, I bet he's just trying to get into some poor woman's pants . . . .

Excerpt from Uzumaki Naruto's Journal, Age 14

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato, Hi no Kuni  
J****une 13th**

Kakashi was disgustingly cheerful when he strolled into his team's training grounds three hours later then the original set time. Of course with one look at Naruto's dangerously twitching eye and Sakura's clenched fists he quickly decided that a peace offering may be needed. Even Sasuke had a suspiciously homicidal look on his face, and the Uchiha Glare of Doom was out at full blast. Kakashi was almost impressed; Sasuke was getting closer and closer to Itachi's level every day.

"Ah my cute students look so _angry_ today," Kakashi said, with a happy eye-smile in place. He pretended not to notice Sakura blazing eyes or the dangerous crack of her knuckles. "Mou, I suppose that I should just take these forms for the Chuunin Exams to a team that will actually appreciate them. . . ."

"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto's voice was strangely calm, contradicting his rapidly twitching eyebrow and annoyed look. "If you don't explain that in one minute, I'm sticking you in a closet with Haruno-chan."

Kakashi shuddered; he had no doubt that he would be beaten up – and _badly_ – if that were to happen, especially if Sakura's gleeful expression was anything to go by. He also had no doubt that if anyone could lock him in a closet it would be Naruto. _'Damn that little imp.'_

"I registered you for the Chuunin Exams!" he crowed cheerfully, enjoying the look of shock that passed over his team's faces. It was good to know he could still surprise them. "All you have to do is fill out these forms, and you're free to join in on all the fun!"

Naruto sighed. "Only you could make a deathly tournament sound like a sleep-over Kaka-sensei," he muttered.

Kakashi took that as a compliment.

"We have to enter as a team, don't we?" Sakura asked, eyeing the papers in Kakashi's hand with caution.

"No," Kakashi answered calmly, ignoring the look he got from Naruto. "It's up to you if you want to join. Neither your teammates nor I can force you to join. You guys have two days to choose, so use your time wisely! That's all for today, so have fun doing what Genin do, oh students of mine! Ja!" With a final wave Kakashi disappeared in a poof, leaving his students looking after him in resigned exasperation. They'd gotten used to their sensei's odd ways by now.

"Well I don't know about you two, but I'm signing," Naruto said, and Sasuke nodded in agreement. Sakura, however, bit her lip, looking down at the papers uncertainly. Naruto noticed the look and gave the pink-head an encouraging grin.

"You'll do fine Haruno-chan," he told her. "Plus it'll be an academic experience, ne? Real life prepares you more than books can!"

Sakura gave him a shaky smile before saying, "I'm not sure Naruto. I'll have to think about it. Anyways, I'm off to the gates; Sasuke-kun would you like to come with me?" She gave the Uchiha an adoring look and both of the boys grimaced.

"Way to be nauseating Haruno-chan," Naruto muttered, ignoring the angry look it earned him. "Why would you go down to the gates?"

Sakura huffed. "I heard that some of the foreign teams are coming in today, and I wanted to go down to see them!"

Naruto's was instantly interested. "Foreign teams? Do you know from what countries?"

Sakura tilted her head to the side. "Ano . . . I think Ino mentioned Mizu . . . Iwa . . . and Suna. She also said something about Ame and Ta **(1)** as well, but she didn't give any specifics. . . ." Sakura trailed off at Naruto's excited look. "Why? Is someone you know coming?"

"Arigato Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, not answering Sakura's question as he sped off towards the gates. He grinned in excitement as he took to the rooftops to avoid village traffic. If Suna was coming then he might see Gaara again! **(2)**

Naruto had become friends with Gaara soon after he and his mentors first moved to Suna. Hisoka, as a traveling samurai, often took up missions for any of the hidden countries, and the Kazekage had requested his presence as soon as he'd heard that Hisoka was nearby. He'd taken Naruto with him to see Sunagakure, and had left him outside of the Kazekage Tower with the promise that he _wouldn't move_.

Of course, Naruto being Naruto, he went to the nearby playground anyways.

_-Flashback-_

_Nine-year-old Naruto knew that Hisoka-chan would be mad at him when he came back out of the tower, but it was so_ boring _waiting around, especially with all the creepy, strangely clothed people giving him weird looks._ _Plus the playground was full of kids; surely he could find someone to play with?_ _Maybe Hisoka-chan wouldn't be so angry if he knew that Naruto had made a friend while disobeying orders. . . . After all, Hisoka-chan knew that the only friend Naruto had who was his own age was Haku, and he barely saw the feminine boy._

_So off he went to the playground. It was a nice place to play – it had been put in the shade of one of the taller buildings so that the area was nice and cool, and there were plenty of slides and games. When Naruto wandered over, many of the kids' heads popped up, and with them dozens of large eyes to give him curious looks._

_"Aa. . . ." Naruto muttered, a little uncomfortable with all the eyes on him. Even if he liked attention, the unblinking stares were a little bit creepy. "I'll just . . . go to that sandbox. . . ." Quickly he moved to one of the sandboxes in the corner that held the only kid who hadn't looked up upon his arrival in it._

_He gave a sigh of relief as he slipped over the sides; as soon as he had started heading for the corner, the other kids had lost interest in him. With a happy smile on his face he turned only to come face to face with two emotionless green eyes. Naruto yelped and feel backwards._

_Placing a hand over his fluttering heart he muttered, "Jeez, you scared me half to death!"_

_The red-head didn't say anything, instead opting to stare Naruto down. The blond took no notice of the glare and instead continued to chatter happily. "But that's alright, I'm used to it. Rai-nii-san does it all the time, even though Hisoka-chan tells him not to. But then Hisoka-chan does it too sometimes, but he says that's for training. . . . But enough of that. My name's Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto. What's yours? Do you live around here? Is it fun? This is my first time being in Suna, so I'm really curious. Is it this hot all the time? Does the sand get in your clothes? Do you always—"_

_"Quiet," the red-head said in a low tone, shutting Naruto up immediately. The blond looked startled at the annoyed voice, but after a moment he smiled._

_"You don't talk much do you?" The red-head didn't answer, and Naruto supposed that answered his question._

_"What's your name?"_

_The other boy considered the question and then said, just as quietly as before, "Gaara."_

_"Gaara, hm? Well, Gaara you're the first person my age I've met around here, so do you wanna be my friend?"_

_Gaara blinked. Naruto took that as a yes._

_"Alright then! When Hisoka-chan comes back out, he'll be angry – I was supposed to stay by the Kaze Tower and wait for him but the playground looked more fun. So he'll come storming over here – good thing he can sense chakra or else he wouldn't be able to find me and he'd be even more angry – and you're gonna cover for me! Say something like . . . I was standing by the tower ever so innocently and somebody was in trouble and needed my help! Yeah, Hisoka-chan would fall for something like that. What do you think, Gaara?"_

_Gaara blinked again and Naruto smiled at him._

_"I thought it was a good plan too! Yes, we're gonna be perfect friends, Gaara!"_

_"What are you doing _over there_?" _

_Naruto frowned and turned to see a boy around his age with dark hair and eyes standing outside of the sandbox, a sneer that didn't look right on the face of a child turning his mouth ugly. Naruto's eyes narrowed._

_"Why shouldn't I be here?" he bit out. Naruto had a problem with people telling him what to do and this boy had an air of arrogance around him that the blond didn't like. _

_"You're with _him_!" the boy sounded honestly surprised. "_He's_ a _monster_ – you shouldn't be in there. _He'll_ rip you apart if you're not careful." His smug tone indicated that he thought Naruto would be "not careful" really soon. That set the blond's teeth on edge._

_"Who are you?" he asked, trying to keep his tone even._

_The boy puffed up instantly. "Seito Kaoru. My father's one of the Kazekage's councilors!" He gave Naruto a look as if to ask 'why aren't you sucking up to me yet?' Inner Naruto gagged. "You should be playing with_ me_, not that _monster_," the boy continued, ignorant of Naruto's disgust. _

_Naruto glanced at Gaara from the corner of his eye and frowned when he saw that the red-head's face was just as impassive as when he'd met him. __'Does none of this affect him?'__ he wondered. The sort of things that Seito Kaoru was saying reminded Naruto of his time in Konoha, and that just made him all the more protective of his new friend._

_"Listen, Seito," he rolled his eyes when the boy frowned at the lack of honorific. "I don't care who your father is, and I could care less about who you think I should play with. Gaara is my friend, and if you don't like that, there are plenty of other places for you to be." With that said, he turned back to the red-head, who was staring at him with what might have been shock on any other face, and began to chatter again._

_"Jeez, what an idiot right Gaara? Like I would leave you like that, especially after I just said you my friend! And plus, you need to help me with my plan against Hisoka-chan—"_

_"Hey!" Seito hadn't left, instead he'd stared at Naruto for several moments in disbelief before talking yet again. "You can't go with that _monster_. _He's_ killed so many people; you'll just be another body to _him_. Even _his_ father hates _him_."_

_"So?" Naruto said, obviously shocking the other boy. "I don't know his father, and I don't know any of you. Why should I trust your judgment? I like Gaara, he's my friend. Nothing you say can convince me to _desert him_." The disgust was clear in his voice, and Seito flushed._

_"You're probably a monster just like _him_," he said with another sneer. "You're probably gonna help _him_ kill us all! Hey!" he called, but this time it was to the rest of the kids in the park. They all turned and Naruto was disturbed to see that the malice in their all of their eyes. None of the kids in Konoha had hated him like this, not even when their parents did. What had Gaara done to deserve this?_

_"He's another _monster_!" Seito howled and the other kids visibly perked up. "He's gonna help _him_ kill us! We should get them before _they_ get us!" Naruto stiffened when Seito gave a yell and turned, clambering up the side of the sandbox to reach the two boys inside. He grabbed Gaara's arm and drew close to the red-head, ignoring the glare his troubles got him._

_"Well at least I won't be lying about the trouble part," he murmured under his breath before turning to his companion. "Look, Gaara, I can probably hold them off. You should get out of here, or their parents might blame you instead of me."_

_Gaara's eyes widened at the concern in the blond's voice. He hadn't been sure what to make of this strange person who had suddenly came into his sandbox and declared himself Gaara's friend. Nobody honestly liked Gaara. They tolerated him because of his father, detested his existence, or feared him like his brother and sister. But he doubted that the blond who called himself Naruto would throw himself in the line of fire for someone he didn't like. Besides, there was something in those eyes of his. . . ._

_Abruptly he shoved Naruto behind him, ignoring the blond's loud protests. His sand rose in defense as the kids came closer and he heard Naruto gasp. Most of their attackers halted at the show of strength, but a few, Seito among them, continued forwards until they were thrown back by Gaara's sand. He felt hands grip the back of his shirt and Naruto whispered in his ear._

_"Don't kill any of them."_

_He turned and regarded the blond curiously, confident that the attack would be put off for the moment. Naruto read the question in his face and shrugged._

_"If you kill them, their parents would blame you, and then you'd be more hated than ever. Plus they expect it of you – shouldn't you prove them wrong?"_

_Gaara blinked. He'd never quite thought of it like that before. The blond was odd, he decided. But it was a good type of odd._

_"NARUTO!" the blond behind him eeped and a hand gripped his shirt tightly._

_"Uh-oh. Stick to our story Gaara, or else I'm fish meat. Hisoka-chan is gonna be _so_ mad. . . ."_

_Yes definitely a good type of odd. Gaara, for the first time in years, felt the urge to smile. He could do worse in a friend than Uzumaki Naruto._

_-End Flashback-_

Naruto smiled fondly at the memory. Even though the red-head had accepted him at their initial meeting, it had still taken a lot of time to take down all of his walls. Luckily Hisoka had been so relieved that he had a friend that wasn't a girly-looking, needle obsessed, Missing Nin he had allowed Naruto to visit Gaara as often as he liked.

He'd been surprised when he found out about Gaara's demon Shukaku. The red-head had told him about his inner demon about a year after they met, when Naruto had absently wondered aloud why Gaara looked like he didn't sleep. Naruto had been horrified to find out that his friend actually _didn't_ sleep and, with the help of Hisoka and Raiden, had fixed up the seal so that he could get at least a couple hours of rest each night. That had been a couple of weeks before Hisoka had died.

Gaara was one of the only people who Naruto had allowed to comfort him after Hisoka died. Itachi had been one, and Raiden had been the second, for obvious reasons. But being comforted by Gaara was different; Raiden would try to sympathize with him, and Itachi would treat him like a little brother. But Gaara just stood there silently, holding Naruto against his side, and when the blond had finished with his grieving he would silently hand him a tissue. Naruto had decided back then that, despite being without close friends for most of his life, Gaara was good at comforting people.

They'd grown closer after that, and Gaara had very nearly come with Raiden and Naruto when they decided it was time to move on. But ultimately it was the need to reattach his family ties that kept him in Suna. His brother and sister, despite the example of Naruto, were still terrified of him, and his father still hated him. When they'd parted ways, he'd told Naruto that he wanted to change that.

Naruto had gotten a couple of letters from Gaara over the years, but most were just as short as conversations were with the red-head. He hadn't heard from his friend for a year at least, and his last news had just said that he was closer with his family and he hoped to see Naruto soon. Naruto knew that Gaara still wasn't a chuunin, and since he was one of their best genin he hoped that Suna would send him to the Chuunin Exams.

The Konoha Gate came into view and Naruto blinked at the number of teams already assembled outside of them. There was a large crowd of Konoha nin there to see the foreign teams, and he could see the headbands of Ta, Mizu, and Iwa among the outside nins. But no Suna. Sighing he made his way to the group of Konoha nin, and grinned when he saw the bright blonde hair of Ino.

"Hey! Ino-chan!"

Ino looked up from her conversation with the lazy looking Nara beside her and waved when she saw Naruto. He jogged up to her side.

"Uzumaki, it's been a long time since I've seen your face," she said slapping his shoulder with mock anger.

Naruto laughed. "Gomen for denying you such a handsome sight, Ino-chan. I know how much you love it." Ino blushed and muttered an annoyed comment under her breath. "But who are your friends?"

He met the Nara's eyes and was surprised to see that they were sharper than they had been before he'd joined the group. Of course, the other boy was probably analyzing him. He was an unknown in Konoha – no one knew his skills outside of his team, Raiden, Iruka, and Jiji-sama. And all of them except Raiden only knew some of them. So Nara would obviously be curious, especially if Ino had been talking about him.

"Naruto, this is Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji." Naruto turned to the chubby boy next to Shikamaru who was eating a bag of chips and nodded his head. Chouji smiled at him and offered him a chip, which Naruto refused. Then he turned to Shikamaru with another nod of greeting. The Nara just flicked his hand. "Are you here to see the teams too?" Ino drew his attention back to her.

Naruto shrugged. "Sort of. I made a close friend when I was traveling, and I was hoping he'd be here. So far, though, I haven't—"

"Uzumaki."

Naruto started and whirled around, his eyes widening as he took in the flame bright hair and flat green eyes of his best friend. Instantly he threw himself at the other boy, and would've sent them both to the ground if Gaara hadn't steadied them. Like everyone else who came into contact with Naruto, he knew that the boy was _enthusiastic_ during reunions.

"Gaa-chan!" Naruto either didn't see or ignored the tic of Gaara's nearly non-existent eyebrows at the cute nickname. "I wasn't sure if you'd be here or not! You stupid, deranged raccoon, why didn't you tell me you were coming to Konoha?!" Gaara's eye started to twitch, but Naruto was too busy squeezing the life out of him to notice.

"The councilors made the decision late," Gaara said indifferently. "They informed us four days ago that we were to come to Konoha."

"Who's these 'we' you're talking about?" Naruto asked, slowly moving away from his friend.

"My teammates," Gaara said, sweeping a hand behind him. Naruto was surprised to see a shocked looking Kankuro and Temari standing behind the red-head.

"Oh, you guys are his team?" Naruto asked, without much enthusiasm. He'd hated how they treated Gaara in Suna, and thus he didn't like them very much. A hand on his shoulder brought his attention back to his friend.

"They have changed." Gaara's voice was quiet, but intense. Naruto sighed.

"Doesn't mean I have to," he whined childishly before stepping forward with a hand outstretched.

"It's nice to see you again, Temari, Kankuro!" he said, much more cheerfully. The two looked surprised, but Temari hesitantly took his hand and gave it a shake. Kankuro just gave him a nod.

"Naruto, who are your friends?" Ino asked her eyes on Gaara. Naruto snorted.

"Flirt," he said with more amusement than anger. Ino's chances of scoring Gaara were practically nothing. The red-head was just as apathetic as he was during their childhood years.

Ino glared at him and then stuck her nose up in the air. "It may come as a surprise to someone as uncivilized as you, Naruto, but _some_ of us have _manners_," she said, with distinct snobbishness.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "If you want to call shameless flirting _manners_, Ino-chan, be my guest, but don't expect me to _believe_ you." Ino just glowered at him.

Naruto turned back to Gaara. "I'm going to be in the exams as well," he said cheerfully, ignoring Gaara's narrowing eyes. "Kaka-sensei signed us up."

"Really?" Ino said enthusiastically. "Asuma-sensei did the same for us! I guess we'll be in this together, Naruto!"

Naruto laughed, "You just can't wait to see me fight, Ino-chan! And I know exactly what you'll be watching," he added with a wink. Ino huffed.

"Honestly, where did you learn such crude manners?" she muttered.

"Blame my guardian. He's a bit of a pervert." He grinned as Ino started to radiate anger. "If you want to talk to him about my horrible manners, he's got black hair and golden eyes and his name's Raiden." Ino gave a grin (Naruto was eerily reminded of Sakura earlier and inwardly shivered – girls were _scary_) and stalked off, dragging a complaining Shikamaru and a still-eating Chouji with her. "If you see him, tell him Naruto sent you!" the blond called after them, grinning when Shikamaru gave him a lazy salute. _'You can run, but you can't hide, Rai-nii-san. This is payback for all those times women beat up on me for your pervy behavior.'_ Inner Naruto cackled evilly.

He turned back to see Gaara giving him a _look_ and shrugged. "Payback, Gaa-chan, what else? Now, where are you staying?" He turned to Temari, knowing Gaara well enough to realize that the red-head wouldn't answer him. _'I think he's already used his quota of words for the day,'_ Naruto thought with amusement.

"Konoha Inn," Temari answered hesitantly, still surprised by Naruto's friendly attitude. Back when the blond still lived near Suna he'd been cold and irritable with them. Temari knew now that it was because of their treatment of Gaara, but it still surprised her that he could forgive them so easily. Especially since they hadn't even shown him that they were behaving when it came to their youngest brother! _'I had no idea they were that close,'_ she thought, and voice in the back of her head told her that she had never noticed much about Gaara back then, content as she had been to ignore him.

"Sugoi," Naruto said with a whistle. "That's one of our best, I think. Haruno-chan was babbling about her mom going there a couple weeks back. Jiji-sama must really be sucking up to you if he's placing you there. Anyhow, Gaa-chan you wanna come with me to get something to eat? They've got the _best_ ramen in Konoha, you wouldn't believe it!" He tugged on Gaara's arm, pulling the red-head behind him as he started to chatter away.

"I got to see Itachi-sensei again, can you believe it? He lives in this big creepy house, and once you get settled in we're gonna get a lot of pink paint and do a painting job on it, okay Gaa-chan? And you're gonna cover me when Itachi-sensei comes after me, because he's _scary_ when he's mad! You wouldn't want little old me to get killed, would you?" There was a paused and Naruto yelped. "Gaara! What kind of friend lets his best friend get killed! Mou, what happened to that cute little red-head I used to know? The one that defended me with his sand. . . ."

Temari and Kankuro exchanged a look, both, for once, in agreement. Their little trip to Konoha was going to be much stranger than they thought it would be.

* * *

But there is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you're fighting for. (Paulo Coelho)

* * *

Naruto was heading home from his full day out with Gaara when he heard the shouting. He stopped and stared towards the place where it had come from – one of the training grounds, if he wasn't mistaken, that was surrounded by a wall of trees. He could hear vague words filtering through the thick wall of leaves.

". . . stupid . . . loser . . . bakayaro . . . never amount . . . leave. . . ." Naruto tensed and started to angrily stalk towards the training ground. Those words were too much like the ones that he'd heard during his first years in Konoha – no way in hell was he going to let someone else have to stand them!

He burst through the trees and stopped dead when he saw what exactly was going on. A teenager in a green leotard (Naruto did his best not to cringe) was lying on the ground, obviously having seen the worse part in a fight. His bowl-cut black hair was messy and tangled, and he had bruises and slashes over his body, giving his leotard a battered look. Big black eyes looked up at Naruto from underneath thick, bushy eyebrows.

Standing above him was another boy, this one with looks the complete opposite of the one on the ground. He had long dark hair that cascaded down his back and was tied loosely at the end to keep it out of his way. Pale eyes without a pupil - _'Byakugan,'_ Naruto thought instantly – stared down at the other boy arrogantly, and the boy's neutral colored shorts and shirt were without a scratch.

"Who are you?" the arrogant boy asked and Naruto stiffened. This was the voice that had been saying _those words_.

"Uzumaki Naruto," he bit out proudly. "And you're obviously a Hyuuga, not that I care. What about you?" he asked towards the boy on the ground.

"R-rock Lee," he said, eyes widening even further.

"Hm. Well, Lee-san, I can take you to the hospital to get patched up if you need it. Obviously Mr. Prim, Proper, and Prideful doesn't need anything, but I wouldn't have offered anyways." Naruto grinned at the tight look on the Hyuuga's face. Oh how he loved to mess with arrogant asses!

"You're one of the rookies in the Chuunin Exams." Hyuuga said, and Naruto nodded, making the other boy sneer. "You won't make it that far. Like _rookies_ could handle the Chuunin Exams," he muttered to himself. Naruto stiffened.

"Look, Mr. Dark, Tall, and Angsty, you know absolutely nothing about me or my team. Until you see us fight, I suggest you keep your comments next to the ten foot pole shoved up your ass." He turned to Lee, who had watched the confrontation with a look torn between horror and admiration. Naruto inwardly wondered if anyone had bothered to defend the older boy before this. "Look, Lee-san – can you stand on your own?"

"Of course!" Lee beamed brightly, regaining his spirit of YOUTH thanks to his wonderful champion. He leaped to his feet, only to fall flat on his face. Naruto sighed.

"Obviously not," he said, smiling. He hoisted one of Lee's arms over his shoulder, taking the boy's weight so that he could stand without falling again.

"You won't get anywhere, Uzumaki! You're just a no-good loser with ideas above his station!" Naruto had been ignoring the Hyuuga, but at that comment he stiffened and stopped in his tracks, not seeing the worried look his new friend was giving him. He carefully set Lee down on the grass.

"Mind staying here for a while?" he asked, and Lee shook his head vigorously. Naruto grinned, giving him a thumbs up before turning back to the Hyuuga, a cold smile stretching across his face.

"Hyuuga I don't particularly care about the angst-driven past you have that's causing you to be such a jack-ass, but you will apologize - if not to me, then to Lee-san, who you were bad-mouthing earlier for, as far as I can see, no apparent reason." Hyuuga looked furious to Naruto's amusement. Obviously he wasn't used to having to deal with attitude.

"Win against me and I'll apologize to the both of you," Hyuuga said after gaining back his composure. He gave Naruto a steady look of confidence that, under any other circumstances, would've made the blond want to befriend him.

"So sure of yourself?" Naruto mocked, discretely activating his eyes as he did so. It was a good thing that Reiki-Metsuki didn't have any characteristic markings like the Sharingan, or even the Byakugan. No one would know he was using it because it only brightened his eye color a tad – unless they knew about his bloodline, most opponents would attribute that to excitement.

Hyuuga had a distinctive aura, much like Sasuke did. His core colors spoke of determination, strength, and a will – three things that Naruto knew he would admire once Hyuuga got the stick out of his ass. He frowned as he saw a lazy green pattern dancing lazily over the top of his next layer – his physical aura - but before he could get a closer look Hyuuga was talking again.

"It is my fate to beat you," he said calmly, his hands rising into a typical Juuken stance. Naruto sighed – he'd learned from Itachi about the Byakugan, but he'd never had to fight a Hyuuga before. _'Why do I get myself into these things?'_ he thought, but with a look back at an anxious looking Lee told him exactly why he was doing this. _'This is what comes from being raised by Hisoka,'_ he thought with some amusement. _'You end up protecting the underdogs of the world. Next thing you know, I'll be saving kittens and helping old ladies cross the street.'_

"Ara? My _fate_? I don't believe in fate, Hyuuga-baka." He said calmly, and instantly ducked when Hyuuga came rushing at him, veins bulging and chakra glowing on his hands.

Naruto had to dart and duck to avoid Hyuuga's techniques, but he didn't fight back. He just dodged, weaving around Hyuuga every time he tried to score a hit. After a few minutes of this technique, Hyuuga withdrew, a frown of irritation marring his face.

"What? The great Hyuuga gives in so easily? What happened to fate?" Naruto teased. He dodged the hand that Hyuuga sent at him quickly. "Oho, scary."

"Fight me seriously, baka," Hyuuga said with a growl. Naruto lifted an eyebrow.

"Why should I?" he grinned when Hyuuga glared at him. _'He's got nothing on Itachi,'_ he thought childishly, mentally sticking his tongue out at the other shinobi.

"When you're fighting a superior opponent, you should always use your full strength," Hyuuga said snobbishly.

"So, this is your full strength then?" Naruto asked cheekily, and had to dodge another attack from the angered Hyuuga. _'The cold ones are always so much fun to tease,'_ he thought, dancing away from Hyuuga's glowing hands. However, his light attitude disappeared when he noticed Hyuuga's attacks getting sharper and faster – it was getting harder and harder to dodge them as he had been. _'Time to play fair, I s'ppose.'_

"All right, Hyuuga-chan, I'll fight you fairly," he said and before Hyuuga could start spouting some smug speech, Naruto disappeared from his sight.

Hyuuga whirled around, kunai in his fingers, and clashed with Naruto, who'd been sneaking up on him from behind with a knife in his hand. Naruto grinned and disappeared again, this time to Hyuuga's right side. The knife back in its safe place, his freed hands started to quickly make seals.

"_Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!" he cried, and a dozen solid copies of him sprung into being around Hyuuga.

He'd learned the jutsu from Raiden a long time ago, and he liked to use it because he was so comfortable with it and because it always caught his enemy off guard. Seeing an enemy's disbelieving face was always so entertaining . . . .

Naruto sent his clones into action, instructing them mentally to only use Water style – the style he'd been using up to this point. Water style was mostly defensive and, when unsure about an enemy's strength, a good style to use. But while Hyuuga was a good fighter – Naruto was sure that he'd be having a hard time had he not had years of training and experience – this fight was getting a little boring. _'Time to end it, and quickly,'_ he thought when he saw that his clones were getting demolished. Despite that they were clones of him they were nowhere near as skillful as he was in terms of taijutsu.

Quickly he made some more clones and disappeared from sight, circling behind Hyuuga so that the other shinobi couldn't see him easily. Carefully – so he didn't draw attention to himself – he formed a couple more seals and whispered under his breath, "_Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!_"

Hyuuga was, of course, surprised when he was abruptly disturbed from his fighting of Naruto's clones and pulled underground until he was neck-deep and couldn't move a muscle. He growled and the clones disappeared. Naruto, grinning from his victory, crouched down to Hyuuga's level.

"What's your name?" he asked and Hyuuga looked surprised.

"Hyuuga Neji," he said quietly and with a bit of bitterness.

"Hm. You're a Branch member then?" Neji tensed and immediately opened his mouth, but Naruto waved his question aside. "My guardian told me about the Hyuuga's crazy politics, and I took a guess. Your reaction says it all, Neji-chan. But seriously – try taking out your anger on something other than poor gejimayu over there."

Neji had calmed and considered Naruto with stoic eyes. "Why should I listen to you?" he asked and Naruto shrugged.

"What reason do you have to beat him up?"

Neji sneered. "He's a failure. He gets in the way. And he never stops _smiling_!"

"How do you define a failure?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Someone who loses," Neji started and then stopped himself. Naruto grinned.

"Then that means you're a failure too, huh? Lemme let you in on a little secret, Neji-chan – everybody loses to somebody. It's one of those facts of life. So, by your definition, everybody in the whole world's a failure. And, personally, I'd prefer someone who can fail with a smile, because it just means they're that much stronger than someone who loses with anger." He gave the Hyuuga a pointed look.

"You don't understand what its like!" Neji said, starting to get angry again, obviously understanding Naruto's insinuation.

"Oh? Why don't you explain it to me then? You can whine and moan about how no one understands your plight all you want, Neji-chan, but all it takes to get someone to understand is for you to open your mouth and let them know."

Neji opened his mouth, than closed it again with a frown. Naruto grinned – he'd let the stiff Hyuuga think on that for a while. Maybe he'd loosen up a little bit. Kami knew the Rock Lee's of the world needed it.

"Have fun trying to worm your way out, Neji-chan!" he sung and hurriedly grabbed Lee before making his get-away. He didn't think he'd want to be around when Neji got out of his little trap.

* * *

"Even the wise cannot see all ends." (The Fellowship of the Ring; Gandalf)

* * *

A knock on Naruto's door made him look up from his study of his father's old scrolls with a frown. As far as he knew, nobody had any idea he'd moved back into the Namikaze home. Carefully he padded out of the living room to the front door cautiously. However as soon as he felt the intruders chakras he relaxed.

"Itachi-sensei, Gaa-chan!" he cried, as he opened the door. As soon as it was open, the two shinobi swept by him down the hallway, leaving Naruto to stand in front of his door in confusion. Shaking his head, he closed the door and turned to follow them, inwardly wondering what all the hurry was about. When he entered the living room, he found Itachi studying his still open scroll and Gaara staring out the windows.

"Not that you're not welcome or anything," he said, plopping down on the couch, "but why are you guys here? Gaa-chan, I thought you'd be with your family!"

Gaara turned to face him. "Hokage-sama told me where you lived," he said quietly. "I'm staying here during the exams."

Naruto stared at him for a moment before laughing. "You could at least _ask_, Gaa-chan." Gaara shrugged. "All right, you can stay if you want. Though I don't know why you aren't spending time with Temari and Kankuro."

Gaara gave Naruto a stare. "Three years, Uzumaki."

Naruto grinned and instantly bounded over to give Gaara a hug. The red-head tolerated it, but he glared at Itachi as if to say – 'say anything and die.' Itachi just looked at him impassively. Gaara turned his attention back to Naruto when he heard the blond start to talk.

"I knew you missed me, Gaa-chan! Your cold looks and words are all just for show! You're really a soft teddy bear on the inside!" Gaara's eyebrow twitched. Really, the blond could just be so . . . .

"C'mon, I'll show you where you can sleep for the night," Naruto said, releasing the red-head from his hug and pulling on his hand. "Itachi-sensei, I'll be right back down, okay?" he didn't wait for an answer.

A half-hour later, Naruto came back into the living room to find Itachi in the exact same place where he left him, only without a scroll in his hand. Naruto sighed and plopped down by Itachi on the couch.

"I s'ppose I'm glad he decided to stay with me for a bit," the blond mumbled. "Rai-nii-san's been all over the place, and I'm so used to having someone living with me that I've been a bit lonely in this place. But enough of that," he said, brightening a bit. "Come with me, Itachi-sensei, I've got something I want to show you!" Naruto took Itachi's hand and pulled him after him up the two flights of stairs into the attic.

"I found this when we first explored the house," Naruto explained to a silent Itachi as he led them to the part of the room that held his mother's paintings. "I found a couple of paintings by my mother that I thought you and Sasuke might want to have." He let go of Itachi's hand and rummaged through the paintings for a bit until he surfaced with three in his hand. He handed them to Itachi, who stared down at his mother's painted face with surprise. "Apparently, they were friends," Naruto said quietly in answer to his unasked question. "There's a couple of sketches too – I'll just go grab those for you . . . ." he turned away and left Itachi to his privacy.

Itachi grasped the paintings and looked them over carefully. They were very good – Naruto's mother had been a good painter, if nothing else. Itachi was swept away by a feeling of bittersweet sadness as he looked down at his mother's face. How long had it been since he'd seen those features? Six years, seven years? He'd already forgotten most of the details – like that she had a mole at the corner of her mouth, the brightness of her dark eyes, or the way her crow's feet around her eyes had crinkled when she smiled.

"Naruto." The blond looked up from his search to see Itachi staring at him with intense eyes. He swallowed. "Thank you."

Naruto smiled. "You're welcome, Itachi-sensei," he said quietly. "Here are some of the sketches – I'll see if there are any more later on. It's starting to get a little late – Sasuke must be wondering where you are."

Itachi nodded and accepted the sheets of paper Naruto handed him easily. The blond led his friend out of the attic and down the stairs, pausing by Gaara's door to yell a goodnight to the silent red-head before heading down to the living room. Itachi was just about to make his way to the front door, deciding to wait until the next day to talk to Naruto, when the blond's hand on his arm stopped him.

"What did you come over here for, Itachi-sensei? You must have had some reason besides wanting to see my good-looking face," the blond said it jokingly, but there was a serious glint in his eyes.

"I wanted to warn you," Itachi said quietly, shifting the paintings in his hands. "Sandaime-sama has told the ANBU to be on the lookout during the Chuunin Exams. You are in particular danger for being the Kyuubi vessel, Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked surprised. "Someone might be after me?" he asked.

Itachi tilted his head. "Yes. The group Sandaime-sama is wary of has been . . . _collecting_ jinchuuriki as of late. We do not know if they are aware of your merged status, or if it matters to them. If they infiltrate during the exams . . . they are likely to be after you."

Naruto rubbed his face. The easiest time to infiltrate a village was during the Chuunin Exams – during the exams the village security was extremely high and all of the foreigners were treated with suspicion. He'd never suspected that Jiji-sama had an actual group he was keeping an eye on. _'Maybe that's what Ero-Sennin wanted to talk with him about,'_ Naruto thought, remembering Jiraiya's top-secret information during his return to Konoha. He knew that the Sannin had an excellent web of spies from underground rumors, and most likely kept Jiji-sama updated.

"I'll do my best to stay safe, Itachi-sensei. Thanks for telling me," he finally said, looking up at the older boy with a smile. Itachi was silent for a moment.

"Tell me if anything is wrong, Naruto-kun." Naruto was surprised at the steel in Itachi's voice, but nodded. The older boy sighed before ruffling the blond's hair with his free hand and disappearing out the front door. Naruto blinked and then smiled. Who knew Itachi could be so affectionate?

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Yes, Neji-chan is somewhat of a bastard. You can think of him as my version of canon Sasuke. While my Sasuke may have had Itachi to help him, Neji still had the same things happen to him as they did in canon, hence his bastard-like personality. But like always, the Uzumaki Charm comes out the champion! Bwhaha……Yes, there is a good reason that Naruto is fighting Neji now. It's all for plot purposes. And yes, the fight sucks. I did tell you early on I can't write fight scenes very well. Oh well. Thank you guys for all the wonderful reviews, and keep 'em coming! Chapter 11 will be up sooner or later!

**Spoilers (Naruto Shippuden):** Yes! And we, Itachi-kun's fans, are proven right once and for all! He's innocent……partly. ……And Sasuke killed him! T.T Oho, I want to see more the mystery! And see Madara's face……!

_Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Type, Inner Decapitation Skill):_ You guys all remember Kakashi's nifty little jutsu that made Sasuke look like a moron, right? Well this is the same thing. Victim gets pulled under ground up to their necks and can't get out easily. Ha.

_Juuken (Gentle Fist):_ Hyuuga's special taijutsu style.

**(1)** Ta no Kuni is The Land of the Rice Fields, and is also known as Oto no Kuni, possibly from its only shinobi village Otogakure (Wikipedia).

**(2)** Heh, heh……Surprise?


	11. In Which the Chuunin Exams Begin

**Author's Notes:** OMG (I can't believe I just wrote that . . . .) you guys, I am _so sorry_ for how long it's taken me to write this chapter . . . but I got a major writer's block half-way through and had to go and write other things for a full _two weeks_ before I finally worked through it. Sad, huh? But never fear – the newest chapter it finally here! Please leave a review!

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Eleven: In Which the Chuunin Exams Begin**

ATTENTION ALL ANBU MEMBERS

This is an order from Sandaime Hokage-sama. There has been received information of a possible infiltration mission during the CHUUNIN EXAMS. ANY suspicious activity sighted is to be reported to either Sandaime-sama or Jiraiya-sama. If there is sighted activity of enemy shinobi, bring them straight to Sandaime-sama. In the meantime, all ANBU members are to stay within Konoha walls and patrol as often as possible, especially during Chuunin Exam tasks. Be discrete. Keep all senses open.

Thank you for your time,  
Sandaime-sama

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato  
****June 14****th**

Naruto growled lowly. It was an hour after their appointed meeting time (they'd set it three hours before the Exams were set to begin, for safety's sake) and yet both his teammates _and_ Kakashi weren't here. His sensei he'd anticipated, but _Sasuke and Sakura_?!

His head snapped up as he heard approaching footsteps and his eyes widened when he saw Itachi walking alongside Sasuke as they made their way over to him. _'Itachi-sensei? What is he doing here?'_

"Itachi-sensei, did something happen?" Naruto asked worriedly, a frown marring the skin of his forehead. Itachi simply shook his head. "Then what are you doing here? And Sasuke!" He suddenly whirled towards the younger Uchiha. "Why are you so late?!"

"Aniki wanted to speak with me," Sasuke said calmly.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "He can talk so much that he made you an hour late? Why, Itachi-sensei, you've grown so much . . . . I feel so proud . . . ." He wiped away an imaginary tear.

If they hadn't been stoic Uchiha men, Sasuke and Itachi would've rolled their eyes.

"We sparred afterwards." Naruto opened his mouth, but Sasuke cut him off before he could say anything. "Aniki healed me afterwards, which is why I don't have any wounds. He didn't even get a single scratch," he muttered angrily. Naruto huffed.

"He _is_ ANBU Captain, you know, Sasuke-teme. _You_ are still a genin."

Sasuke just glared. Naruto smiled and shrugged, turning back to Itachi. "So this was all in preparation for the Exams?"

Itachi nodded.

"Are you going to watch?" Naruto asked interestedly. "I thought only the teams could watch before the Final Exam." Itachi raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Are they allowing it because you're ANBU Captain?" the blond asked exasperatedly. Itachi nodded, this time with a hint of a smirk on his face. "You just wanna watch me kick everyone's ass, don't you?" The smirk widened. "Ha! You admit it! Fine then, _Itachi-kun_, I'll kick everyone's ass, just so you can have a reason to amaze them all by actually showing _expression_ on your face. You'll probably give Jiji-sama a heart-attack."

Sasuke watched in amazement as Naruto held a conversation with Itachi without the older Uchiha having to say a single word. He could sometimes do that, but it was only rarely. And, as far as he knew, no one else was able to even hold a _regular_ conversation with his brother. _'They must have been close,'_ he thought and wondered at the lack of jealousy that his brother was close to someone else. Perhaps it was because it was _Naruto_, who seemed to pull people in like flowers to the sun.

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto!" The threesome turned to see Sakura waving at them, a reluctant-looking boy at her side. Naruto's eyes widened. _'Is that . . . .?'_ He looked at the long shiny hair, loose shirt and pants, and the bored, arrogant expression. _'It is! It's Neji!'_

"Haruno-chan!" he cried back, while Sasuke just flopped a hand in the air like a dead fish, wearing a cold mask on his face. "Neji-chan!" he added, to his teammates and Itachi's surprise. Neji, on the other hand, didn't look shocked in the least.

He stepped forward. "Uzumaki."

"Oh? You know my name?" Naruto asked, with a smile. "Are you stalking me, Neji-chan? I know I'm ridiculously good looking, but come, come, there's no need to be shy . . . ." He watched with delight as Neji's eyebrow ticked ominously. _'Looks like I've still got it,'_ he thought gleefully.

"I came to talk to you." Neji was obviously gritting his teeth in frustration. "And I learned your name from Sandaime-sama when I asked about an obnoxious blond with a hero complex."

"You went to such great lengths just to get my name? Why, Neji-chan, I had no idea I left such an impression on you!" Naruto said, being as sickeningly sweet as he could. _'It annoys enough people for it to be worth it,'_ he thought, watching the Neji's stormy face with enjoyment.

"Naruto!" He turned his attention to Sakura, who was watching him disapprovingly. "He came all this way to take to him, you should at least take him seriously."

Naruto sighed. "Oh, all right. Ruin my fun, Haruno-chan," he said with a pout. He turned back to Neji. "So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked cheerfully, as if their earlier exchange had never happened. Neji gave him a wary look, as if he couldn't believe Naruto was actually being civil, but nonetheless began to speak.

"I wanted to tell you that . . . ." he trailed off, and then cleared his throat, obviously reluctant. "That you were right."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. _'Hyuuga's can say that to other people?'_ he thought with bemusement. From what Raiden had told him, Hyuugas were like the Uchiha clan: stuck-up, stiff-necked, and arrogant to the extreme.

"I'm glad you realized that," Naruto said, seriously for once. "So are you gonna tell me why you're so bitter and angsty, or do I have to beat it out of you?"

Neji shot a glance his teammate's way and Naruto sighed. "Shoo," he said to them, waving his hands in their direction. "Do whatever it is you do until we're done." Sakura rolled her eyes but moved off to the side. The Uchiha's, however, didn't move; Sasuke stood at Naruto's side, glaring, while Itachi just stared impassively. Naruto gave an exasperated sigh. "Honestly! I beat him up yesterday – he's not a threat. Off with you, or I'll smother you with love and affection!"

Sasuke smirked slightly and then turned to walk away. Itachi gave Naruto a long glance before letting out a silent sigh and disappearing from sight. Naruto could sense him, barely, hovering in the trees nearby.

He turned back to Neji. "Alright, so let's hear it," he demanded.

Neji glared. "You know of the Hyuuga clan, correct?" Naruto nodded. "Good, that will make this easier. The "Branch" family of the Hyuuga has a seal of submission that the "Main" family can control them through. We act as their bodyguards, and they get to punish us like dogs." Neji's voice was bitter. "I am the bodyguard of my cousin, Hyuuga Hinata, the next Clan Head."

Naruto frowned. "Why is that so bad? Surely she doesn't . . . punish you?"

Neji nodded impatiently. "No she doesn't, but being her bodyguard alone isn't what makes me so 'bitter and angsty', in your words. My father, the current Hyuuga Head's twin, was a Branch member, and he was a bodyguard for his brother. When Hinata-sama," the title was said with extreme bitterness, "was kidnapped as a child, my father killed the attacker to save her. Cloud, the ones who had attempted the kidnapping, demanded retribution, for the killed was someone important, apparently. They said they wanted the Hyuuga Head. Instead, my father was sent in his place, for they were twins and no one could tell the difference."

"And you think that this Hyuuga Head ordered your father through the submission seal," Naruto said, watching Neji's face. Only a slight widening of the eyes gave him away. Naruto sighed. "The submission seal only causes pain. I agree that the current Hyuuga Head, Hiashi, could have tortured your father into agreeing, but perhaps your father asked to be sent, as he was the offender and he loved his twin too much to make him die."

"That would mean he meant to leave me." Neji's voice was hard and cold. "I won't believe that of him."

Naruto shrugged. "If there's one thing I've learned traveling the world, Neji," he told the Hyuuga, "it's that people are stupid when it comes to their loved ones. If your father thought the only way to save his twin was to die himself, than maybe he would've done so, even knowing that he would leave his son behind. Maybe he thought he could entrust you into his twin's care, and that you would be happy. But, again, that's all just speculation."

Neji's mouth was still pushed into a firm line, and Naruto could tell he wouldn't convince the Hyuuga anytime soon. He sighed. "At least think on it." A thought occurred to him and he looked at Neji suspiciously. "You haven't been blaming your cousin for this, have you?" Neji's tense shoulders and silence gave him away. "Hyuuga! She was a toddler when your father died, how would she remember anything? She had no say in anything that went on then! If you have to blame anyone to satisfy your need for revenge, blame your uncle!" Naruto's voice was exasperated.

Neji gave him a stubborn look. "She's _weak_!" he burst out. "She's supposed to be the next Head, but she's weaker than he 8-year-old younger sister! She's not fit to be Clan Head!"

"If you think that physical strength is all a Clan Head needs then you're wrong," Naruto inserted sharply. "I've never met Hinata-san, so I don't know if she has the qualities for a Head, but I'm telling you she could be the weakest shinobi in the world and still make an excellent Clan Head."

Neji frowned but he didn't argue, to Naruto's relief. "Look, I'm not saying that you have to change your beliefs in a night," he explained in a softer voice. "I'm saying you could give them a chance. That you _should_ give them a chance."

Neji gave Naruto a long look before sighing. "Perhaps it was fate that we met, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto snorted. "I told you, I don't believe in fate, Neji. If I had listened to fate, I wouldn't be here now." He gave the Hyuuga a speculative look. "If _you_ had listened to fate, then you wouldn't be who you are now." Neji looked startled.

"I never quite thought of it that way," he said thoughtfully. "Perhaps my relationship with my family isn't the only thing I need to re-think. But, nonetheless, Uzumaki, I'm glad to have met you."

"Call me Naruto, Neji-chan," the blond said with a grin. Neji looked exasperated and resigned.

"I don't suppose I'll get you to stop calling me that," he said with a slight smirk. Naruto smiled.

"Nope," he chirped happily. Neji sighed.

"Didn't think so," he muttered. "Well," he added, raising his voice, "I'll be going now. Thank you for your time, Naruto," he said, with a slight bow of his head. He turned to Sakura, who had drifted closer as the conversation came to a close. "Haruno-san, thank you for leading me to your teammates."

"No problem, Hyuuga-san," Sakura said with a smile.

Neji left with a wave, and Naruto turned to Sakura. "So why were _you_ late?" he asked suspiciously.

Sakura gave him a look. "Sandaime-sama asked me to show Hyuuga-san where the team met when he started asking for you," she explained. "I was just getting ready to leave when he sent for me."

Naruto pouted. "Damn, I can't yell at you _or_ Sasuke. You both have good reasons for being late." A wicked smirk crossed his face. "I guess I'll just have to go all out on Kaka-sensei . . . _when_ he gets here," he added it a little irrritably. "Hopefully he'll show up soon. We don't want to be late for the Exams."

Luckily Kakashi showed up only an hour later, which gave them a half-hour before the Exams were set to begin.

"So you all wish to participate?" Kakashi asked after he arrived and Naruto had given him a good yelling at.

The three teammates nodded in unison.

"Good, that means you can join," Kakashi said with an eye-smile. "Now, we should head inside. The room's the first on the right on the third floor. I'll meet you up there," he added and disappeared with a poof. Itachi, who stayed to visit with Naruto, gave a nod and disappeared silently as well. Team 7 looked at each other.

"Well, I guess we'd better go up . . . ." Sakura said uncertainly. They started towards the appointed building cautiously, each of them wondering what to expect.

The rooms were empty as they entered, but they started to see more people as they headed up the stairs. Naruto frowned as he felt a heavy pressure against his body, as if was walking through a genjutsu. He kept an eye out and smiled slightly when he realized that they weren't on the third floor, as they'd thought. He caught Sakura's eye and she nodded to him – she'd realized as well. Sasuke looked over his shoulder at them.

"We should continue," he said lowly. They kept walking, but Naruto stopped when he saw Lee getting beaten up by two Chuunin guards. He frowned – he didn't think Lee was that weak. _'Maybe it's a show?' And why aren't his teammates helping?'_

"Hey!" Naruto called, ignoring the exasperated looks of his teammates. The guards looked over at him. "Leave him alone!" Lee sent him a grateful glance.

"Why should we, rookie?" one of the guards sneered, giving an extra kick to Lee's side out of spite.

Naruto gave a dramatic sigh. "Well, I, for one, wouldn't want to make the great _Uchiha Sasuke_ angry," he said, fluttering his eyes at Sasuke, who looked torn between amusement and disgust. The guards stiffened. "And, of course, Neji _is_ a _Hyuuga_," the blond added, looking at Neji with wide eyes. The older boy looked annoyed with him, but he played along, putting on best glare for the anxious guards. "I wouldn't want to hurt _his_ teammate," Naruto added, almost as an after-thought. "And Lee _is_ my friend . . . maybe Sasuke will want to avenge him for me?" He sent his best puppy-dog eyes at his teammate, who just rolled his eyes.

One of the guards who obviously hadn't caught the undertones to Naruto's little speech, coughed and backed away from Lee. After all, the Uchiha and the Hyuuga were two very feared clans in Konoha – no one wanted to anger a member. "Gomen, Hyuuga-san," he said with a slight bow. Neji just raised an eyebrow at him.

"C'mon, guys, our work here is done," Naruto said in a low voice to his teammates. They followed him as they made their way up to the stairs. It was only when they were actually on the third floor that Sakura said, "Why didn't we tell about the genjutsu?"

Sasuke grunted. "Less opposition."

Naruto smiled. "The more teams that get confused by the genjutsu, the less people we have to compete with," he explained to Sakura. "They did it this way to narrow down the teams that aren't good enough for the Exams."

"Oh," Sakura said, sounding a bit embarrassed that she hadn't thought of it before. It made a lot of sense.

They found Kakashi leaning against the door he'd directed them to, porn novel in hand. He didn't look up as they approached. "So you made it!" he said happily. "Well, that's one test down. Have fun, kiddies of mine. The real tests begin now." With that cryptic statement, Kakashi disappeared with a poof.

Naruto snorted. "Always one for the dramatic exit, isn't he?"

Sakura nodded in agreement as the teammates entered the room. "Kakashi-sensei does have a flair for the dramatics," she admitted, taking in the huge group of people with wide eyes. Sasuke smirked slightly.

"Hn," he said, agreeing with them both. Naruto huffed.

"Can't you say anything else, Sasuke-teme?" He raised an eyebrow as he registered the groups of people. "Wow. Quite the get-together," he commented. He got a number of glares from the people nearby and held up his hands defensively. "Kami," he muttered. "You make one little comment . . . ."

"Dobe," Sasuke commented, his smirk growing. Naruto scowled at him.

"Teme," he muttered.

"Naruto!" The blond turned to see Ino rushing over to him, followed more slowly by her two teammates. He smiled at her.

"Hey, Ino," he said. "Looking good there," he added and winked for good measure. Ino blushed and hit him on the shoulder.

"Flirt."

"I learned from the best," Naruto said, completely unashamed. "Which reminds me – did you ever find Rai-nii-san?"

"You mean your guardian?" Naruto nodded. "Nope. I almost managed to get at him, but he disappeared through the window before we could reach him . . . ." Naruto sighed in disappointment. _'Maybe another time,'_ he thought morosely. He brightened. _'Maybe I can see him getting dressed down instead!'_ Inner Naruto began to think evil thoughts and plan wildly.

"Too bad," Naruto said. He looked over at Ino's teammates. "Hey, Nara, Akimichi."

"Just call me Chouji, Naruto-san," the chubby boy said, munching on chips. Naruto smiled at him.

"Only if you call me Naruto, Chouji. And you're gonna be Shika-chan!" he added in brightly, pointing at Shikamaru. The other boy blinked slowly and Ino started to snicker.

" . . . Shika-chan?" Shikamaru asked in a dead-pan, causing Ino to laugh harder. Chouji chuckled behind his chips.

"It does fit you," he said to his friend with a smile. Shikamaru just sent him a disgruntled look.

"Hey, look who's all here," a voice said behind Ino and Naruto looked over to see the Inuzuka he'd noticed the first time he'd been at the Academy. A small white puppy was perched on the boy's head. Next to him, was a female Hyuuga that Naruto assumed was Neji's cousin, Hinata, and an Aburame, whose dark eyes were hidden behind sunglasses. "Who're you?" Inuzuka asked, casting a confused look Naruto's way.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"I'm Kiba," Inuzuka said, smirking slightly, "and this is Hinata and Shino. They're both pretty quiet, so don't mind them."

"It's a nice change," Naruto told him seriously, ignoring the dangerous vibes emitting from Sakura. "Although he's pretty quiet as well," he pointed at Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino cried gleefully, jumping on the other boy. Naruto grimaced.

"You're a fangirl, Ino-chan?" he asked drily, watching as Sasuke closed his eyes, apparently trying to remain calm.

Ino glared at him. "Don't take that tone with me, Uzumaki!" she snapped, her arms tightening around Sasuke's neck. Naruto stifled laughter as the Uchiha began to turn red from lack of air. _'Poor, poor, Sasuke-kun,'_ he thought, a little too gleefully.

"I-Ino-san, p-perhaps you s-should l-let S-Sasuke-san go?" Hinata said quietly, a blush gracing her features. Ino frowned but instantly let go when she saw how red the choking boy had been. Sasuke rubbed his throat, glaring at her.

"Poor, poor Sasuke-chan," Naruto cooed, causing the Uchiha to switch his venomous look to the blond. Naruto chuckled. "I've seen worse," he said and Sasuke huffed.

"Naruto," Sakura said sternly and Naruto held up his hands in mock surrender.

"Alright, no more teasing the Uchiha. Got it, Haruno-chan," he said, with another chuckle.

Kiba was watching them all with surprise. "Wow, you actually got away with teasing Uchiha," he said to Naruto. The blond shrugged.

"I know his older brother. Sasuke-chan don't got nothing on him!" he sing-songed and stuck out his tongue at the Uchiha for good measure. Sasuke growled menacingly, making Ino back away from him warily. "Oh don't give me that look, Sasuke-chan!" Naruto said airily, waving a hand. Kiba looked like he wished he'd just kept his mouth shut; Sasuke was glaring at _him_ now, instead of Naruto.

"Ah, these are the rookies I'm guessing?" A silver-haired man with round glasses stepped up to them. Naruto looked at him curiously – he looked pretty old to be participating the in the Exams. But maybe the silver hair was deceiving.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" Kiba said with a growl, obviously feeling his male ego getting threatened. Luckily, the girls were much more diplomatic.

"Ignore him," Sakura said, throwing a glare at Kiba for good measure. "Who are you?"

"My name's Kabuto," he answered, eyeing each of them. "I've taken this test seven times."

Naruto frowned at that. Either he was a bad ninja who didn't give up, or he was doing something more than the Chuunin Exams. _'A spy?'_ he thought, eyeing the mild-mannered look on Kabuto's face. _'If he is, he's a good one. But on what side? Is he spying for another village or for Konoha? And if it is Konoha . . . who is he spying for?'_

He was drawn out of his thoughts when Sasuke said, "Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji."

Naruto looked to see Kabuto had cards in his hand and stiffened. _'Information cards?'_ he thought.

"Aa, let's see . . . Rock Lee has completed all of the set missions for the Chuunin Exams, with plenty extra. His specialties are taijutsu, and his weakness is genjutsu. His chakra coils, apparently, are so under-developed that he can't do anything but taijutsu." Naruto frowned. "The other is Hyuuga Neji. He's on the same team as Rock Lee, but his specialty is in his family taijutsu. He graduated as rookie of his year." He set the card aside and looked expectantly up at the rookies. "Anyone else?"

Before anyone could reply, a voice boomed out, "Take your seats!"

Naruto looked up and raised an eyebrow when an intimidating looking man with a black scarf tied around his otherwise bald head stomped into the room. The man's dark eyes swept over the mass of students, and a mocking smirk curled at the edge of his lip.

"Get your asses in the seats, _now_!" Hurriedly, everyone rushed to a seat. Naruto ended up in the middle rows, next to Hinata. The man stalked to the front of the classroom, eyes roving as he did. Another smirk curved his lips. "Good. My name is Morino Ibiki – I'm your first . . . _examiner_."

* * *

Look underneath the underneath. (Hatake Kakashi) **(1)**

* * *

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Naruto's eye twitched nervously and he glanced up at the irritatingly loud clock across the room from him. He hated tests. They were silent and nerve-wracking, and just plain not worth it. The few tests Hisoka had forced him to take had been bad enough when it'd been just him; now, with hundreds of other students surrounding him, it was a hell of a lot more nerve-wracking than before.

Tick-tock, tick-tock.

Naruto's eye twitched again, but this time from annoyance. If that clock kept being this irritating, it was going to have a nice chat with his kunai, failure be damned. He glanced sideways at Hinata, who looked much calmer than he was feeling at the moment, and then stared down at his paper once more. He probably should answer the questions . . . .

There were a few that Naruto was sure he'd gotten wrong, and one or two that he couldn't answer at all. He sighed; he didn't want to, but it looked like he was going to have to cheat. Carefully, Naruto folded his arms and rest his face in them, trying to make it look like he was taking a nap. In the space of his folded arms, he awkwardly made hand seals, trying to make sure that he didn't move too much and give it away.

Shadows gathered around him slowly, and Naruto carefully sent tendrils of them over to where Sasuke sat, and to Gaara and Neji. They looked at the completed papers and danced back to Naruto, climbing up his shoulder to whisper in his ear. Naruto quickly wrote down the answers before the shadows lost their animation, and then released the jutsu.

He frowned as he looked down at the tenth question, which simply said to wait to the test to end and then answer, but decided it would be best not to worry about it. He'd cross that bridge when he got there. He turned over the sheet and looked up at the clock (which had, thankfully, stopped ticking so loudly), giving a sigh of relief when he saw that he still had plenty of time left. He snuck a look at Sasuke and Sakura from the corner of his eyes, and was relieved to see that they were both busily writing. _'Not that I should have expected any trouble from them,'_ he thought affectionately.

Deciding that the last half-hour should be spent doing something productive, Naruto rested his head in his arms once again and dozed, for real this time. He was nearly asleep when Ibiki slapped his hand down on his desk, announcing the deadline.

"Now it's time for question ten!" Ibiki said, a cruel smirk twisting the edge of his lips. Naruto eyed him thoughtfully. What a sadistic man . . . . "But there's a twist – if you answer the question wrong, you won't be allowed to continue the Chuunin Exams."

"So what?!" Temari called from the back, irate. "We'll just take 'em next time!"

Ibiki's smirk widened. "You won't be allowed to participate in the Chuunin Exams _ever_," he said, watching with glee as the Genin broke out into shouts. Naruto was one of the ones to stay silent, eyeing his instructor thoughtfully. He'd never heard of anyone unable to participate in the Chuunin Exams, so he had a fair idea that this was some sort of trap. He made eye contact with Sasuke and Sakura, hoping they would receive the silent message to stay put.

"Anyone who doesn't think they can answer . . . . You can leave now. But your teammates will leave with you. And if you leave, _none_ of you will _ever_ come back."

The shouts of protest grew louder. Ibiki just smirked at them until they calmed down, and Naruto frowned when he saw some of the teams leaving. He was sure that this was just another test, that this, in reality, was the actual "question ten." Banning shinobi from taking the Exams would be foolhardy; they would remain Genin for life and would never be able to do much to help their village.

Ten minutes passed, and already the room was half-empty. Naruto scowled to himself; he'd had enough of this! He threw himself to his feet, ignoring Ibiki's smirk of amusement.

"You leaving too, kid?" he asked.

"No!" Naruto cried, slapping his hand down on the desk. Ibiki was visibly surprised by that. "I don't care what kind of question it is – I'll answer it and continue! And even if I get it wrong, I'll be the best damn Genin Konoha has ever seen in its life, and I'll make you regret holding me back!"

Ibiki eyed the blond thoughtfully, and then took in the rest of the room. He sighed. The blond's remarks had raised the rest of the kid's spirits; no one else would be leaving. At least he'd managed to clear half of the room . . . .

"Well, congratulations then blondie," he said, a little amused by the surprised expression the blond's face. "You all just passed."

" . . . . What?!" Temari exclaimed from the back. Naruto sank back into his seat, feeling a little smug. _'I knew it!'_ he thought.

"As a Chuunin there will be decisions that you will have to make," Ibiki explained. "Decisions that will make or break your team. And if you can't stand firm, then someone will get hurt." Ibiki took off the bandana covering his head, revealing numerous scars and burn marks. The Genin murmured among themselves. "We needed to see that you could make that kind of decision – that you could make a choice even with unknown obstacles ahead of you. Luckily," he added, eyeing Naruto once more, "it seems like you have your own personal cheerleader." Naruto blushed but glared back at Ibiki, who gave a harsh laugh. "No offense meant, kid."

The window burst open at that precise moment, and a figure tumbled onto the ground, surrounded by smoke. A banner rose behind her proclaiming: Mitarashi Anko! Naruto blinked as he took in a woman with short purple hair, dressed rather scandalously in a short skirt, a leather trench coat, and some fishnet.

She looked around the room for a moment and then frowned. "There's still so many, Ibiki!" she told her colleague disapprovingly. Ibiki shrugged.

"It looks like this batch is a bit hardier than last one's," he told her, eyes on the blond kid that had changed the tides. Anko followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. Instead she turned to the groups of Genins.

"Well! I'm your second examiner, Mitarashi Anko!" She smirked and Naruto was disturbed to see the odd similarity between her and Ibiki. "We're gonna have us some . . . _fun_."

* * *

There are always enemies, waiting in the shadows. This is why we must be prepared. (Anon)

* * *

Konoha's guards were ridiculously easy to get around, in Matsu Keiji's esteemed opinion.

Oh, they would stare at the shadows suspiciously, and they were relatively alert, but they didn't even notice his presence! He got by them as if they were untrained genin instead of the guards for their village. Keiji sneered to himself – untalented idiots.

He slipped past the gates of Konoha, feeling the chakra of his teammates close behind him. The arranged meeting spot was only a half-mile from the gates – risky, but they didn't think they'd be followed. Especially not tonight, when the focus was on the second task of the Chuunin Exams that would be taking place the next morning.

Their mentor was waiting for them when they arrived. Keiji, personally, disliked the guy, but he respected him, as well. After all, he had to be pretty powerful to be named a Sannin by his previous village.

Orochimaru stepped into the moonlight, his eyes glinting. "You have information for me?" he purred, his disgustingly long tongue coming out to lick his lips. Keiji shuddered, despite himself. Damn, the man was creepy.

His male teammate, Yasuo Seiko, stepped forward, his dark blue eyes as calm as ever. "We sighted our targets this afternoon," Seiko said emotionlessly. "We believe we have a plan to capture them, but it cannot be carried out until the end of the Exams."

Orochimaru frowned. "This plan, is it foolproof?"

Keiji's female teammate, a brunette by the name of Nozomi Noriko, laughed slightly. "Nothing's foolproof," she told Orochimaru, quoting his own words back at him. Had it been anyone else, Orochimaru would have beat them for such a comment. But Noriko was his favorite – he admired feistiness when it came to her. So, instead, the pale man just smiled.

"I see," he said. "If you think this plan will work, then we will wait. In the meantime, keep an eye on your targets. Record their weaknesses and strengths. And _don't give yourselves away_." He sent a glare Keiji's way – it was well known that the red-head was the most flamboyant of them all, and the most prone to giving away their position. "We'll meet again when you finish the second task. It will be outside the tower you must reach, the night that you get there." And, without a goodbye, Orochimaru disappeared. Keiji sighed.

"He likes to do that too often," he noted. Noriko snorted.

"That doesn't matter," she told him. "And you should respect him more. He's done a lot for us."

Keiji rolled his eyes. "He's a creepy guy," he said. "It doesn't mean I disrespect him – it just means that I'm smart enough to be freaked out by him."

Seiko was the one to snort this time. Keiji whirled on him. "Hey! Are you calling me stupid, you ass?!"

"Keiji-kun . . . ." Noriko said with a lot of exasperation. "He didn't _say anything_."

Keiji's glare softened, but didn't disappear. "So?! He _never_ says anything, but whenever he makes a sound, it means something! And I know that snort translates to – 'you're not smart, you're stupid' in Seiko-speak!"

Noriko sighed. "Never mind." The boys would always fight, no matter what she said. "We should start heading back."

Seiko disappeared with a sharp nod, a still fuming Keiji following him. Noriko sighed and rolled her eyes, but followed them, leaving the clearing as empty as it had been before they'd arrived.

* * *

People like to make things scarier than they really are. (Anon)

* * *

The "Forest of Death" wasn't really that scary to Naruto.

It really, just looked like a forest. He eyed some of the trembling contestants, and wondered if this was another test of their skill – to see how they fared in the face of scary obstacles. To test their courage, in other words. He mused on that while they waited for Anko to tell them what the second test was.

"Kiddies!" Anko cried, drawing their attention. "Your second task will be in the Forest of Death," Naruto swore he could hear a smirk in her voice, "behind me. Before I tell you what you'll be doing, you'll have to sign these forms."

"What for?" one of the boys in the back called out. Anko leered at him.

"So that we won't be held responsible if you _die_ in there," she answered maliciously. Several people gasped, while Naruto rolled his eyes. _'So melodramatic,'_ he thought, eyeing the stack of papers in Anko's hands. He wondered if she'd asked to do this, just so she could have the fun of scaring the genin.

"So, who wants to go first?" Anko asked.

Naruto stepped forward. "What's there to be afraid of?" he asked calmly. "I'm not going to die."

Like the first test, his words calmed down a lot of the other genin, causing Anko to eye him half in annoyance, half in approval. She'd wanted to scare those brats a little further . . . . but she liked brats with guts.

"Here, gaki," she snarled, slapping the paper in his hand. Naruto smirked at her, and Anko growled. Cocky brat . . . .

Quickly, Naruto signed his name and then calmly returned to the group of genin. Slowly, one by one, each genin signed a sheet, until they were all accounted for. Anko sighed in disappointment. Usually her tactics lost her at least five students – sometimes ten, if she was lucky. It was all because of that blond brat . . . .

She gathered up all the papers and then turned to her students. "Now, onto the fun part. Your team will be given a scroll – it will either be a Heaven or an Earth scroll. Your goal is to get the scroll that you are missing from another team and then head back to the white tower on the other side of the forest. As you may have noticed from the forms – we don't care what you do in there. It's your job to come out alive."

Naruto turned to Sasuke and Sakura – the Uchiha had a smirk painting his face, but the only female of their team had paled.

"Don't worry, Haruno-chan," Naruto told her soothingly. "We'll watch your back. _Won't we, Sasuke_?" Sasuke shivered a little and nodded quickly. Naruto must have taken intimidation lessons from Itachi . . . .

Anko was handing out scrolls to the teams, and Naruto noticed that they all looked the same on the outside. It would make it much harder to find the right scroll – they'd just have to attack at random and see if they got it right. Another sub-test.

Sakura received their scroll and peeked inside it. Naruto raised an eyebrow and Sakura held up two fingers – an Earth scroll. They would need to find a Heaven scroll to complete this test then . . . .

"Choose a gate to start at," Anko announced to the teams of genin. "You have five days to complete this task – anyone who isn't at the tower by five o'clock on the fifth day automatically fails the Exams."

Nobody protested – and anyone who had any ideas of doing so quailed under Anko's stern eyes. After eyeing the group for several long moments, Anko smiled (creepily) and gestured for them to head to their gates.

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto headed to a random gate and waited.

"We should speed through," Sasuke muttered out of the corner of his mouth. "The less we're stopped, the better."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed. "We'll hit as many teams as possible during the first couple of days and then get the hell out of that forest. The sooner the better," he added, frowning at the trees in front of him. He kept getting a foreboding feeling whenever he looked at them. It felt like when he entered them he'd be starting something he could never get out of.

"Ready . . . and go!" Naruto started and then shook his thoughts away as the gates slowly creaked open, allowing the genin inside the Forest of Death.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Obviously, I remember barely anything when it comes to the Chuunin Exams. I would've went and re-read it, like I did with the Wave Arc, but seeing Naruto acting so dumb would've depressed me enough to make me not want to write, thus dispelling the whole purpose of looking it up in the first place . . . . I'm sorry this chapter took so long – you would not believe how long I was stuck at the First Exam scene. It's the longest I've ever been blocked when it comes to writing . . . . Anyhow – next chapter will _definitely_ be better, and will come much, much faster (I hope). Next chapter is the forest of DEATH (he-he) and the beginning of the third task. And hey, what do you guys think of the new, mysterious OCs?

**(1)** I got a little desperate, alright? I feel pretty pathetic, using a quote from canon . . . .


	12. In Which Some Genin Try to Stay Alive

**Author's Note:** SOOOOOOORRY. I'm so, so sorry! T.T I meant to update this sooner, but the writer's block didn't go away for weeks . . . . –sigh- But here it is! Finally! Thanks for the reviews and your patience!

**Warning:** Uhm, I remember next to nothing about this part of the Chuunin Exams, so . . . . there will be some parts that are wrong or different (or some stuff that isn't in here at all).

"Talking" / _'Thinking'_ / **"Kyuubi"** / _"Jutsu"_

* * *

**An Inconvenient Truth  
****Chapter Twelve: In Which the Genin Try to Stay Alive**

"All right," said Spiff. "Now this is what I say, anyone who thinks they've got a better plan can say so afterwards." (Michael de Larrabeiti, _The Borribles Go for Broke_)

* * *

**Konohagakure no Sato; The Forest of Death  
****June 24****th**

Naruto was starting to get confused why the Forest of Death was called as such. It wasn't scary in the least – dark, yes, but all forests were that way. So far, Team 7 hadn't been stopped by anything or any_one_. The forest was so quiet that Naruto was beginning to think that all the other teams had gone somewhere else.

"This _is_ where we're supposed to be, isn't it?" he asked Sakura as they flew from tree branch to tree branch. She gave him a slightly scornful look.

"Yes," she said, her tone suggesting that Naruto was an idiot for even having to ask such a thing.

"There's nobody here, though!" Naruto exclaimed.

"We've only been in here for a few hours, baka," Sasuke told him huskily, his black eyes focused intensely on the trees ahead of them. Naruto huffed but didn't say anything more – he realized how stupid his question was, but the silence surrounding them was starting to make him uneasy. Surely there should be animals around to make noises, right? So why couldn't he hear anything?

**"Keep an eye out, ningen,"** Kyuubi's voice sounded in the back of his head. **"The animals are afraid. Something's in the forest that's scared them, and if it's so quiet now it must be close to you."**

Naruto's eyes narrowed. Something scary? What would be enough to scare a large part of the forest into silence? Was it an animal or, perhaps, a powerful person? Perhaps a combination of both?

_'I'm opening up my senses,'_ he told Kyuubi and felt the fox's rumble of approval deep in the back of his head. Naruto closed his eyes and let the hold on his senses crumble before opening them again. Only those that looked into his eyes regularly would see the subtle difference – the pupil slightly more slit, the blue slightly brighter. It was the kind of effect that using his bloodline would have – without the slit pupil, of course.

Everything seemed brighter when his senses were open – even the dreary shadows of the forest trees seemed more alive. But the eerie thing was that the silence was _more_ pronounced in this state than with his normal human senses. He couldn't even hear the distant sound of animals in a different part of the forest. Naruto felt his sense of unease deepen – something was going on, and it wasn't a good something.

"Be on the lookout," he said softly, completely different from his earlier hyperness. Sasuke spared him a sharp look and then a nod before looking ahead once more, and Sakura gave him a questioning look. "When the animals are silent, something's not right," he explained to her. She nodded in understanding.

Naruto watched as she turned away and felt a little proud of her. Sakura had come a long way from the weak fangirl she'd been. The good parts of her spirit that Naruto had seen when he'd first met her were starting to shine through. With only a little more pushing and experience, she would become a different person – for the better.

Naruto shook off his thoughts and turned his gaze to the forest floor below them. He was to watch the ground, Sakura the surrounding trees, and Sasuke the sky. It worked better than to have them all watching those areas at the same time – they might miss something then. However, the forest floor was silent and empty – not surprising since Naruto already knew this part of the forest was abandoned. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what was so scary that the animals would abandon their homes. He thought that they only did that in the case of a huge natural disaster.

**"Animals are smart, ningen,"** Kyuubi told him gruffly. **"Smarter than humans, at any rate. When danger comes, they can sense it, and they'll run. They can always build new homes, but they only have one life – they don't want to waste it."**

Naruto laughed inwardly. _'You should have been a philosopher, Kyuubi, instead of a youkai. Too bad you're wasting all your talents on little ol' me.'_

Kyuubi huffed. **"Brat. See if I ever try to shove information into your thick skull again."**

_'Did I offend the great King of all youkai? Forgive me, Kyuubi-sama, it won't happen again.'_

Kyuubi laughed gruffly, the sound echoing oddly in the back of Naruto's mind. **"Kyuubi-sama; I could get used to you calling me that, gaki. Feel free to use it all the time in the future."**

_'As if, you old furball,'_ Naruto retorted, and then returned back to the real world. That had been a stupid thing to do – talk to Kyuubi when he knew that there was something dangerous out there – but he couldn't pulling the fox's tail(s). It was too much fun to rile Kyuubi up.

**"I heard that, you pathetic excuse for a hanyou,"** Kyuubi grumbled.

Naruto mentally stuck his tongue out at the demon and received a huff in return. He smiled outwardly and then returned his gaze to the forest floor. It was nice, sometimes, to have a demon in the back of your head. At the very least, it meant you were never lonely. Kyuubi would always be someone to talk to, even if he only barked out gruff orders and called him an idiotic ningen.

Naruto's eyes sharpened when he heard voices on the ground below. "Someone's coming!" he whispered to his teammates. They didn't question how he knew it – they were well aware, by now, of Naruto's extraordinary senses, even if they didn't know where he'd gotten them from. The threesome halted in the trees, hiding themselves behind the thick leaves and masking their chakra as best they could. Into the clearing below them strode another team – their headbands marked them from Iwa. The team was composed of a sour looking female with a dirty face and two tall, brute-ish looking guys. Naruto smirked to himself and activated his eyes; their power levels were low.

"We can take them," he mouthed to Sasuke and the Uchiha nodded. Sakura looked a little unsure – probably because of the thick muscles that the two guy shinobi sported – but she nodded as well. "I'll jump out first, and if they attack me you'll come out of the bushes and surprise them, alright?" Sasuke looked a bit sour at getting orders (Naruto inwardly wondered how any Uchiha could become a shinobi when they hated getting orders so much) but they both nodded all the same. Naruto grinned, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and counted silently, "One, two . . . three!"

Naruto leapt out of the tree and landed on all fours in front of the group of Iwa shinobi. They reared back, startled by his sudden appearance and Naruto slowly unfolded himself, a smirk playing on the edge of his mouth. "Fancy meeting you here," he purred, and he could feel his teammate's exasperation from here. The girl gave a high, snotty laugh and the two guys exchanged baffled looks, as if they couldn't understand what Naruto was saying. "Now, if it wouldn't be a trouble . . ." Naruto continued, "we might like to have a look at that scroll of yours."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Why should we show it to you?" she asked in a high voice.

Naruto shrugged. "Well, it could be hurtful for you if you don't," he told her flatly. The girl smirked.

"Why? All we're up against is a puny blond Konoha nin; I have no reason to be scared of you. Taki, Dai – finish him off." She examined her nails as she added in that last bit. The two giants moved forward, eerie grins on their large faces. Naruto looked up at them with a blink.

"Wow," he said, "you really are huge." In the bushes, Sakura slapped a hand to her face. "But seriously, guys, hasn't anyone told you that size isn't everything?"

One of the giants growled and reached behind his back to retrieve his huge hammer. With a flick of his thick wrists, he sent it crashing down to the ground, ready to smash the blond into itty-bitty Naruto bits. Naruto, however, managed to dodge gracefully, and then had to whirl again as the giant's twin did the exact same thing on the other side. Soon, both giants had twin expressions of frustration on their face as they tried and failed to crush the fast little blond. The girl, standing behind and watching, had a furious look on her face.

"Damn Konoha nin," she muttered to herself. "I can't lose here. I am Asago Rukia! I'm part of the noble clans of Iwa – if I lose here, it's a disgrace to my family!"

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," a voice said from behind her and she blinked with shock as she turned to see the blond nin had appeared from behind her. Dai and Taki, those idiots, had stopped pounding the ground with their hammers and looked around in confusion, wondering where their prey had gone to. "But if you wanted to make it out of here, perhaps you should've trained some more."

Rukia glared at him. "I have trained for this!" she snapped. "Which is why I'll be defeating you now, since those idiots couldn't handle the job." She dropped into a stance. "Konoha nin are no match for Iwa nin."

"We'll see about that, won't we?" Naruto answered, dropping into a stance of his own.

Rukia came at him pretty fast, Naruto had to admit. She didn't look like she'd be the type to train, what with that prissy attitude, but she must have felt the need to so her family would remain in grace. However, Naruto didn't think she'd win in a fight against Sakura, let alone Sasuke or himself. She was decent, but she wasn't that good.

He dodged a swipe of her hands, and rolled out of the wall of her oncoming kick. The giants must've just realized that their prey was still nearby, for they came lumbering over, hands at the ready. Annoyed with all the people coming at him, Naruto let out a shrill whistle that was a clear signal that Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't ignore. Surely enough, they came rushing out of the bushes. Rukia turned to see them and promptly gaped.

"I thought you were here alone!" she snapped at Naruto, and he shrugged.

"Why would I tell you that I have back-up?" he asked her. "Hey guys, I'll deal with her, can you take care of the brutes for me?"

"Baka," Sasuke muttered, sounding annoyed. _'So that's a yes then,'_ Naruto thought as he watched the Uchiha start to cleanly pummel the larger Iwa nin. Sakura smiled prettily and then turned to her own victim, and Naruto swore he could see flames around her body. Involuntarily, he shivered. That girl could be extremely scary when she wanted to be. He turned back to Rukia, who still looked sour that her single enemy had multiplied to three.

"I still won't let you win," she snarled and rushed at Naruto again. Naruto sighed as she threw him a flying kick to the head, and slipped easily under her leg, snitching the scroll from her pouch as easily as if taking candy from a baby. He slipped it under his coat and then turned to face her again.

"I think it's time we ended this, don't you?" he asked, and then dealt her a heavy blow to the chin before she could answer. She dropped like a fly and Naruto wondered if anyone had taught her how to deal with heavy blows and not drop unconscious when you got them. _'Probably not,'_ he decided. _'The Iwa don't tend to train their daughters as thoroughly as they do their sons.'_

"Alright guys, I got the scroll!" he cried, catching the attention of Sasuke and Sakura. They looked up from where they'd been tying up their defeated giants. Naruto absently wondered how Sakura had gotten hers unconscious, but after seeing the sharp glint in her eyes he decided not to ask. He took the scroll out from under his coat and waved it over his head. "It's the one we need too!" _'Lady Luck is on our side,'_ he thought gleefully.

"Alright!" Sakura said, with a smile.

"Hn," Sasuke snorted and turned his head to the side. Naruto grinned at him.

"Now we can head to the Tower, if you guys want," he said.

Sakura frowned a little. "Naruto, shouldn't we stay in the forest for a few more days? I mean . . . ." she hesitated for a moment then plowed ahead. "If we arrive first, then everyone will know that we're good, right? Shouldn't we try to be in the middle so that we don't get any attention paid to us?"

Naruto beamed at her. "See, that's thinking like a ninja!" Sakura blushed slightly. "But I do think we should head to the Tower right away. Mainly because even though we haven't seen them, there are still teams out there, and they'll want to get one of our scrolls. The longer we stay, the more chance we have of getting into a harder fight than this one. We don't know what we'll have to do after the Tower, so it might be best if we tried to avoid as many fights as possible. Plus . . . ." he trailed off and then sighed. "There's something going on in this forest."

Sasuke stared at him. "What?" he asked, face blank.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. But the animals were silent earlier, and," he listened for a moment, "they still are now. When animals are silent, nothing good comes of it. I think it's best we get out of here as soon as possible, to be honest." He turned to Sakura. "Also, I don't think it'll set us apart from the pack. After all, everyone expects _the_ Uchiha Sasuke to do well, don't they?" He flung an arm across Sasuke's shoulders, making said Uchiha glare at him. Sakura smiled.

"Yes, that's true," she said, considering Naruto's arguments. "I think you're right. Plus, I won't disagree to not having to sleep in this creepy forest for a night or two!" She shuddered. Naruto turned his grin towards her.

"Alright! Sasuke, you fine with this plan?"

The Uchiha shrugged. "Hn," he told Naruto, who took that as a yes 'hn', opposed to a no 'hn'.

"Alright, so we're decided then. Shall we head out to the Tower, my dear teammates?"

They took to the treetops, leaving behind the unconscious bodies of the Iwa nin. As Naruto's chatter faded from the clearing, a tall person stepped out of the trees and stared down at the stewn bodies of the Iwa nin. He licked his lips and flicked golden eyes up to the trees, staring at the direction that Team 7 had left in.

"Nice work, my pet," Orochimaru murmured.

* * *

Professionals are predictable; it's the amateurs that are dangerous. (Unknown)

* * *

The tower looked out of place against the gloom and doom of the forest – like a cheerful white knight in the midst of sardonic black ones. Naruto had to chuckle at the sight of it – the white, shining building looked like it belonged in the midst of Konoha instead of on the edge of it. But he was happy to see the place – even with the eerie lack of people or animals, the forest had been dark enough to creep him out a little.

Naruto looked over at his teammates and was bemused to find determined looks on their face (although Sasuke's determined face was just a bit of a bigger scowl, Naruto could tell – he had known Itachi for years, after all). He raised an eyebrow.

"What are you so grim about?" he asked.

Sakura gave him a look. "There's probably another test in that building," she said. "We don't know what it could be . . . ."

Naruto snorted. "We've barely used any of our weapons and that fight with the Iwa nin barely even winded us. If it's a battle, I have no doubt that we're as best prepared as we can be. And, more than that, a shinobi will always have to face circumstances where they won't know what the next obstacle will be. Think of it as practice." He grinned inwardly when he saw Sakura relax slightly and Sasuke's scowl lessen a bit. _'There,'_ he thought, _'Good deed of the day, done.'_

The white tower was quiet and empty when they entered it. Naruto figured that they had to be the first ones to arrive; after all, the group had five days and they'd managed it in a few hours! Naruto felt proud of his group for that, but immediately squashed the feeling. Pride would only hinder him here. Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Sasuke reading musingly from a scroll hanging on the wall. _'Heaven and Earth, huh . . . .'_ The blond eyed the contents and then his eyes lit up. _'Maybe . . . .'_

He took the scrolls from his belt and threw them open, ignoring Sakura's startled shout. Instantly, a pop and poof of fog appeared. Naruto tensed slightly until the smoke cleared away to reveal Iruka, dressed in nothing but a pair of drawstring pants. His long chocolate hair was down and wet. Both parties blinked at each other for a moment before Naruto began to laugh. Iruka turned and his eyes narrowed on the blond. Naruto, noticing his look, tried to stop his giggling, but his amusement couldn't conquered.

"S-sorry, Iruka," he stuttered, chuckles escaping his mouth. "D-did we disturb you?"

Iruka gave Naruto a look before he gave a reluctant smile. "Of course not, Naruto," he said. "I just wasn't expecting a team this soon." He gave them all a warm smile.

"But why are you here, Iruka-sensei?" Sakura asked a little confused.

Iruka turned his smile towards her. "I was given the chance to greet each of you. Unfortunately, you summoned me just as I got out of the shower . . . ." Sakura blushed at that thought. **(1) **"But enough about me. Do you have any thoughts on that scroll?" Iruka tilted his head towards the scroll on the wall.

"I think . . . ." All three men turned to Sakura. She blushed under the attention, but continued her theory. "That maybe . . . . "Heaven" is the mind, and "Earth" is the body. What the scroll is saying is that if you have too much of either, you have to work on the opposite. So if you're too strong in the mind, you need to work on your body. Or the opposite. And that you need to have an equal amount of both to be a good shinobi." She gave Iruka a nervous look. "Is that right?"

Iruka beamed at her. "It's absolutely correct, Sakura! I couldn't have said it better myself!"

Naruto smiled at her. He'd known that Sakura was extremely intelligent and perceptive, but he was impressed with how far she'd come from the brat that he'd met only months ago. She was developing into a good woman and a good ninja, and Naruto found that he was proud to be her teammate. He never would've thought he'd be thinking that three months ago.

"Do you boys understand the lesson as well?" Iruka asked. Naruto and Sasuke nodded in unison and Iruka smiled. "Well, you've passed your second test. Until the rest of the teams arrive, you can stay in this building; we have some rooms up a few levels that should be ready for you. The third test will be on the fifth day, at 12:00, when all the teams that can participate have gathered at the tower. Until then, you're free to spend your days as you please. There are some Jounins staying here, waiting for their teams, I believe . . . . I think Hatake-sensei is with them." Iruka paused. "Any questions?"

All three teens shook their heads and Iruka smiled, yet again. "Well then, I'll be off! I'll see you guys on the fifth day!" With a simple hand sign, Iruka disappeared from their sight with a pop of smoke.

The three teens looked at each other. Finally, Naruto grinned at them. "Well, who says yes to spending our time getting Kaka-sensei to take off his mask?"

Sakura and Sasuke exchanged looks and then, with grins stretching slowly across their faces, turned back to Naruto and nodded. All three teens shared evil grins.

A few floors above, a certain jounin felt a shiver run down his spine. **(2)**

* * *

No matter how good you get you can always get better and that's the exciting part. (Tiger Woods)

* * *

Raiden was ridiculously proud to see his pupil had arrived so early in the test. So was Kakashi, actually, though that pride stretched a little thin when he kept getting randomly attacked by said student and his two other pupils. Kakashi had figured out the first time they'd attacked him that they were trying to get his mask off, and had kept a vigilant look-out ever since. Kakashi had managed to keep people from seeing his real face for years, but he had no doubt if his guard dropped even a little then his team would figure out a way of un-masking him. They were sneaky little shits that way, though Kakashi was completely proud of them for being so. _'Ah, the joys of being a teacher,'_ he'd thought as he dodged Naruto and Sasuke's attempts at pulling down the fabric covering his face.

Raiden watched with no little amusement as his charge and his cohorts tried time and time again to un-mask Kakashi. It was no use; Raiden knew that well, and had learned it only through many attempts of his own. When it came to his mask, Kakashi was untouchable. Even in battle, no enemy, no matter how strong, had been able to get it off of him. Raiden had be-moaned this fact many times before he finally became resigned to not being able to see his friend's real face.

It was on the second day that Team 7 had been in the tower that another team finally arrived. Naruto and Raiden were unsurprised to see that it was Gaara's team. The blond had tackled the other boy as soon as he entered the building and, to everyone else's shock (excluding Raiden and the other Sabaku siblings, as they'd seen it before) Gaara caught the body hurtling towards him and allowed Naruto to squeeze the living daylights out of him.

"I knew you'd be the first!" Naruto exclaimed brightly. Then he pulled away from Gaara, beaming at the red-head.

"You got here before me," Gaara murmured, allowing the blond to remain in his personal bubble.

"Yes, well, we got off easy!" Naruto said, with a wave of his hand. "We ran into this team that wasn't very good at fighting; the girl was decent, but the guys! You remember those guys we met during your mission to Ame? Well, these guys were _worse_. I don't think they even knew _how_ to think!" Naruto continued to ramble on as he pulled on Gaara's hand, leading him into the tower. No one saw either boy for the rest of the night.

The next day gave way to the arrival of a few more teams, Neji and Lee's among them. Ino's team also made it in that evening. Naruto gave his usual affectionate greetings to his friends. Everyone who saw it was amused when they watched Neji Hyuuga stiffly stand while Naruto hugged him to bits. Unlike Gaara, Neji wasn't accustomed to or wanting of such a hug, but he liked Naruto well enough and was too polite to shove the blond off of him. So he withstood it with a pained look on his face that made Kakashi and Raiden giggle in glee for the rest of the day whenever they saw him. Neji found that he had the disturbing urge to take a kunai to some _sensitive_ places whenever he saw the two men.

The fourth day yielded the arrival to the majority of the remaining teams. Naruto was surprised that all three rookie teams had made it through the second test, but upon thinking on it, he wondered why he would be. Each team had at least one fairly powerful person on it and they all seemed to work well together, so it was no surprise that they'd managed to get this far. He'd have to see how they all did on the next test.

The day of truth dawned clear and bright. Currently, there were eight teams gathered at the tower, and Naruto felt that there might be one or two more to arrive before twelve o'clock, the official end to the second test, but somehow he doubted it. Sandaime would be arriving promptly at twelve to tell them what the third test would be and to explain the reasoning of the second test itself. Naruto wasn't sure what the third test would be; the tests themselves differed every year, although usually the core moral stayed the same. However, he kept himself calm, unlike his teammates. Although Sasuke didn't show it as much as Sakura did, he could still tell the Uchiha was apprehensive about what was to come.

The teams gathered in the main hall of the tower; the same hall where they'd all gotten their lecture on Heaven and Earth by a Chuunin. They weren't a particularly large group, but Naruto had heard of Chuunin Exams that had only had two teams by this round, so he was impressed. The crowd was waiting silently and restlessly for the arrival of Sandaime, who was due to speak to them at any second. Team Seven was in the back, next to Kakashi, who was reading his signature orange book.

"Kakashi-sensei, you shouldn't read that in front of impressionable children," Sakura scolded.

Naruto snorted. "If that know what that book's about, they're not impressionable children anymore," he said. Kakashi grinned behind his mask.

"Maa, it's nice to have my own bodyguard," he said with an eye-smile. Naruto glared at him.

"Stupid pervert," he muttered. "See if I ever defend _you_ again."

"You'd be right not to, Naruto-kun," drawled a voice from behind him. Naruto turned to see Itachi standing behind him, a half-smirk on his usually emotionless face. The blond blinked in shock for several seconds.

"You're smirking!" he murmured, sounding almost dazed. "Have I died and gone to heaven?"

"You expect to see _me_ in heaven?" Itachi sounded amused. Naruto's eyebrows folded as he considered the question.

"Well, no," he said, earning what sounded like a muffled snort of laughter from Sasuke and an outright chuckle from Kakashi. "I suppose I've died and gone to hell then," he said mournfully. Kakashi started to outright laugh, but hid his face behind his book when Itachi turned the Uchiha Death Glare™ on him. Sasuke had to bite his cheek and turn away to prevent his mask from falling. Sakura, though, was giggling slightly.

"Well, Itachi-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked. "I haven't seen you here for the last few days . . . ." Itachi tilted an eyebrow and Naruto blinked. "You came to watch the tests then?" A tiny lift of the lip made Naruto shake his head in exasperation. "Well, yes, you _said_ you were going to, but you never know with you, Itachi-sensei!"

"I can never figure out how he does that," Raiden murmured to Kakashi, sidling up to the taller man. "He reads Itachi's face like a book."

"Naruto's a special kid that way," Kakashi said with a happy eye-smile. "Besides, does it really surprise you that he can read Itachi so easily?"

"No, I suppose it shouldn't with his gift and all," Raiden said, watching as Itachi made miniscule facial gestures and Naruto responded accordingly. "But still, you have to admit it's a bit eerie."

Kakashi shrugged. "Not really," he said. Raiden gave him a half disgusted look.

"You're too easy-going," he muttered. Kakashi smiled, but didn't say anything. The Sandaime had arrived, and everyone had turned quiet.

Naruto watched the Sandaime sink into his seat with thoughtful eyes. He still loved the old man, even if he hadn't told Naruto about parentage, which was why he was disturbed to see how . . . . _weak_ the Hokage looked. He looked almost fragile. Naruto's frown deepened, but he decided to ignore it for now. Perhaps he could confront Sandaime after the Exams and see if there was anything wrong.

"Welcome, young Genin," Sandaime said with a kind smile. "It's been a long time since we've had so many make it to this round." Anko, who was standing behind the crowd of genin, made a loudly irritated noise. Sandaime ignored her. "And since we have so many, there has been an extra round added into this year's Chuunin Exams." He held up a hand to stop the protests. "It is necessary. This extra round will eliminate . . . half of you." Protests rose again, louder this time. "Silence!" Sandaime thundered, and the room fell silent.

"This round will be one-on-one challenges," he continued, more calmly. "You may well have to fight against your own teammates." Gasps echoed throughout the room, making Sandaime smile sadly. "In a moment, all genin as well as senseis and . . . other audience members," here, he shot a look towards Itachi and Raiden, making Naruto snicker quietly to himself, "will move into the balconies. Once your name is called, you will make your way down to the bottom floor and fight against your opponent. Once a person is knocked unconscious, clearly unable to continue the fight, or yields, a winner is declared."

"Now," he said, leaning back in his chair. "If anyone should wish to back out, you may do so now with a clear conscience. Your team members will be allowed to proceed without you."

The room was quiet for several moments, no one wanting to back out and look the coward. However, a single hand rose into the air and one person stepped forward. Naruto's eyes narrowed in on the silver-haired genin: Kabuto.

_'Now why would a man who's failed this test seven times want to back out now, especially since he doesn't seem to have injuries?'_ Naruto mused as he watched the man move towards the Sandaime with a smile hanging on his lips. _'He has to be spying. There's no other explanation.'_

"I think I'll back out, Sandaime-sama," Kabuto said sheepishly. Snickers ran throughout the group.

"If you're sure, Kabuto," Sandaime said calmly. "You can leave now, or watch, if you wish to."

"I think I'll hang around for a while," Kabuto said with a gentle smile, and turned to return to the main group.

"Is there anyone else who wishes to back out?" Sandaime asked. One of Kabuto's other teammates stepped forward, quietly stating his wish to back out of the competition. **(3)**

Naruto eyed his two teammates, but he needn't have worried. Sasuke had likely been dreaming about this competition since he entered the Academy, and Sakura had an eerily determined look on her face. They were both prepared to face whatever lay ahead. Naruto turned back to look at Sandaime with a smile on his face.

"I only have a few more things to say before we start this competition," Sandaime said, looking stern. "These tests – the Chuunin Exams themselves – have another purpose besides deciding who will move up a rank." Curious whispers ran through the crowd. Sandaime's dark eyes looked down at the Genin below him sadly. "It is also, in fact, a replacement of sorts . . . for war."

"War!" Temari gasped nearby them.

"Yes, war," Sandaime said. "If you look back in time, you will see that countries were always fighting each other. Eventually, to prevent such needless fighting, we came up with the basis that became these Chuunin Exams."

"I thought that it was decided who would be Chuunin in these exams!" Ino called out, looking a little angry.

"Yes, it is that as well. But there is another side to these exams. You see, during the third test, leaders and influential people from every country will be gathered to watch you. If the strength of a country is clear, then it receives more prestige and more clients. If it is clearly weak, then it loses clients. It will signal to potential enemy countries that 'we have this much power.'"

"Yeah, but why do we have to risk our lives for this!" Kiba shouted.

Sandaime gave a long sigh. "The strength of the country is the strength of the village. The strength of the village is the strength of its shinobi. And the strength of the shinobi . . . is born only through life-risking battles."

Silence reigned the room for several moments.

"This test shows off not only your own strength and weakness, but your country's strengths and weaknesses," Sandaime said. "Please remember this; when you fight, it's not only your dreams on the line, but your country's dreams and its prestige as well."

The teens all looked at each other, taking in the people who become their enemies in the next moments. Sandaime let them for a minute before he coughed, gathering their attention.

"Now, may I introduce your referee for this test?" he said with a smile, turning towards the congregation of shinobi near him. A slouched man in a flack jacket that looked more like he belonged in a hospital than on a battlefield came forward, coughing slightly. "This is Gekkou Hayate, and he will monitor each fight."

Hayate turned to the genin. "The rules of these battles –cough- are this: there are none. If you are knocked out, -cough- admit your defeat or –cough- you die, then you are eliminated. However, so we don't –cough- have an unesscary amount of corpses, I'll –cough- jump in when the victor is clear. The one that will decide who you –cough- fight is . . . ." he turned and motioned to the curtain slowly being pulled off a screen. "That –cough- electric scoreboard. It will show –cough- what matches there will be." Hayate turned to face them again. "Now . . . this is sudden, but we're announcing the two –cough- names of the first fight."

Everyone tensed and looked up as the scoreboard began to flick through names rapidly. It started to slow down, and everyone held their breath. Gasps were heard everyone when the names finally stopped on those who were to fight first:

_Uchiha Sasuke vs. Yoroi Akada_.

An older man with a bandana covering the bottom half of his face and nose and dark hair stepped forward, a gleam in his eyes that Naruto instantly disliked. Sasuke began to saunter up to meet him when Naruto caught his arm, looking seriously into his eyes.

"Don't underestimate him," he said seriously. Sasuke nodded and proceeded forward so he was standing by Yoroi.

"Now –cough- the rest of you can head into the balconies so that the floor is clear," Hayate told them. The stadium was full of sounds as everyone made their way up the stairs into the long balconies. Naruto snagged a good spot and was soon joined by Sakura, Kakashi, Itachi and Raiden. Nearby were Ino's, Gaara's and Neji's teams. They all stared down at the two left on the floor.

They faced each other casually, both examining for any possible flaws. Sasuke noted that his opponent was taller and thicker than him, which would likely make him slower. Yoroi, on the other hand, just saw a cocky brat in front of him that no one had managed to beat down yet. Yoroi smirked. _'For Orochimaru-sama, I will defeat this punk!'_

The two opponents stared each other down, both impatiently waiting for the signal from their referee. Hayate, perhaps noting the tension between the two, approached the middle cautiously.

"And . . . Start!" Hayate jumped away immediately, leaving the arena clear of anyone besides the opponents.

Neither shinobi attacked right away. Instead, they were content to circle each other slowly, eyeing for weaknesses and openings.

"You're just a brat," Yoroi taunted, flexing his hand as he prepared to make his strike. "I don't know why everyone's so afraid of you!" He flew at Sasuke, hand curled into a punch. Sasuke sneered and dodged, letting the other man fly past him easily. Yoroi caught himself and turned, attacking Sasuke once more. This time he grazed Sasuke's side, but not enough to knock him out. Upstairs, Naruto gritted his teeth.

"Baka," he murmured. "Didn't I tell you not to underestimate him? Wipe that smirk off your face and take him seriously, teme!" He growled under his breath. Stupid Uchihas; they were always so cocky. While some days it was amusing, other days it was just damn annoying.

Sasuke finally made his counter move; he attacked suddenly from the side, catching Yoroi off guard. The older man managed to dodge and avoid the blow, but it grazed him enough to make him breathless for several seconds. Yoroi's eyes narrowed on Sasuke, anger evident in the lines of his face. Sasuke, however, just let his smirk widen. Slowly, his dark eyes changed to a vivid red, two black dots swirling around his pupil. Upstairs, a group of three leaned forward in interest.

"That must be the Sharingan," Seiko murmured quietly.

Noriko hummed. "Yes," she whispered. "I wonder what the Uchiha plans to do with it."

"I just wonder if it's as powerful as Orochimaru says it is," Keiji muttered, his eyes fixed on the battle below.

Across the room, Naruto perked up when he realized Sasuke had brought his Sharingan out to play. "Well, at least he's serious," the blond murmured, "although it might have been better to wait . . . ." Naruto thought about it and shrugged. Sasuke wasn't the type to wait things out; he liked to finish his battles quickly. Plus, it wasn't like everyone didn't already realize that he had Sharingan.

Yoroi's eyes narrowed further when he saw Sasuke's red eyes and a nasty smirk pulled at the side of his mouth.

"What? Think you can beat me with your fancy tricks?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed, but he stayed silent.

Yoroi hissed and rammed himself at Sasuke, apparently more aggravated by his silence than by any insults the Uchiha may have come up with. However, it didn't seem that the older shinobi had started his violent attack for the sake of anger. Naruto's eyes narrowed when he observed the smirk on Yoroi's face, and his face tightened when he saw Sasuke pull away sharply, a look of pain on his features. His eyes flickered between black and red before settling once more on the Sharingan.

"Ha!" Yoroi crowed. "Didn't like that much, did you brat? And that was only a taste of what I can do to you. If I wanted, I could drain all the chakra from your body!"

Up in the balcony, Naruto turned to Itachi. He blinked when he realized that the older Uchiha was also sporting red eyes.

"Itachi-sensei," Naruto murmured. "What did he do?"

Itachi was silent for a few moments, Sharingan eyes focused on his little brother. Then he said, "The chakra absorption technique," he murmured. Kakashi made a sound of surprise from his position against the wall.

"That's pretty rare, Itachi," he said skeptically. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Itachi said, throwing Kakashi a look. It was only then that Kakashi realized that Itachi was using Sharingan. "I can see the chakra flow."

"What does it do to Sasuke?" Sakura asked worriedly.

"Anytime Yoroi attacks him, he'll be able to absorb chakra from Sasuke's system," Kakashi explained quietly. "The longer he waits it out, the weaker he'll be. And if he doesn't finish it soon, he'll lose control of his Sharingan and his chakra, and won't be able to use it."

"Which means he has to avoid Yoroi's attacks at all cost and finish it off quickly," Naruto summarized. "Or else he's toast."

Sakura bit her lip. "Please hurry, Sasuke," she murmured.

Naruto placed a hand around her shoulder. "He'll do fine, Sakura," he said with a smile. "After all, he's Sasuke, isn't he?"

Meanwhile, downstairs, Sasuke's brain was working furiously to come up with a solution to the end of this battle; with himself as the victor, of course. The only way he could think of was to do a particular move of the Uchiha family taijutsu. However, no one had seen such moves for a long time, mainly because Uchiha's tended to prefer chakra attacks to taijutsu. Sasuke hadn't even learned the taijutsu until after his family's death, when Itachi had taught him. Sasuke frowned, a wrinkle growing between his glowing red eyes. It wasn't the ideal solution, but it was better than getting beaten because his chakra had been absorbed. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke turned his eyes towards his still gloating opponent, moving his left leg back so he was prepared to spring.

Itachi, up in the balcony, recognized the movement and smirked. "Sasuke will win," he said calmly, catching Naruto's attention. The blond looked up at him curiously for a moment before returning his eyes to the floor below, searching Sasuke's movements. It only took a moment for him to catch what the Uchiha was doing, and when he saw it, his eyes widened.

_"Yamakaji_?" **(4)** he breathed. He turned to Itachi. "That's part of the Uchiha style, isn't it?"

Itachi nodded silently. Yoroi, down below, didn't notice Sasuke's sudden switch in position, although he'd stopped bragging about himself.

"C'mon, baby Uchiha," he said, smirking. "Show me your pitiful skills."

Before Yoroi could move, Sasuke swept forward on his right foot, lifting his left leg into a powerful roundhouse kick that sent Yoroi spinning into the air. Moving at a fast speed, Sasuke caught up with the whirling body, and kicked him again, lifting him even higher up than he'd been before. As Yoroi moved up higher and higher, Sasuke pushed himself up in the air to follow him and delivered a powerful kick to his stomach, sending Yoroi plummeting to the ground at a speed that astounded the viewers in the balconies. When the dust settled, there was a large, Yoroi-sized hole in the ground. **(5)**

"Winner, Uchiha Sasuke," Hayate announced with a cough. Sasuke smirked and turned to go back up the stairs, his passage to the third round now assured. Paramedics took the now unconscious Yoroi away.

Naruto smiled as Sasuke approached them. "Nicely done, Uchiha," he said. "Take out the Sharingan, then beat him with taijutsu . . . very classy."

Sasuke snorted. "Hn," he told Naruto matter-of-factly.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Uchihas," he murmured to Sakura, making sure to make it loud enough so Sasuke and Itachi could hear him. "You give them a compliment, and they 'hn' at you. I feel so unappreciated." Sakura giggled lightly, while the said Uchihas snorted in unison.

"Now the second match will be announced," Hayate said once the floor was clear again.

The atmosphere became tense yet again as the scoreboard began to switch through names rapidly, only slowing down after several seconds. Finally it began to slow to a halt and landed on two names that no one expected to be against each other:

_Aburame Shino vs. Akimichi Chouji_

Naruto blinked. If he remembered rightly, the Aburame clan was mainly focused on their "bug jutsu" as Raiden had called it, rather childishly. The Akimichi, on the other hand, focused more heavily on strength, as he could see from Chouji, who was a monster of a boy already. Naruto leaned forward on his elbows with a grin. _'This ought to be interesting.'_

As it was, it was almost a disappointing battle. Shino made a valiant effort in taking Chouji's chakra from him via bugs, and Naruto saw the beginnings of a tactician in the way the bug-user planned, but Chouji still managed to stay even with him. It was mostly because Chouji instantly used some of his family's techniques, including the _Baika no Jutsu_ and _Nikudan Sensha_. His fat body rolled around after Shino, almost taking him down a few times.

The ending was anti-climatic compared to the battle. Chouji managed to knock Shino out the second that he passed out from chakra exhaustion after Shino's bugs ate all of his chakra. In the end, it was declared a tie with no winner, as they'd both passed out at the same time. Calmly, medics came into the stadium and took them both away on stretchers, although it took twice as many to carry Chouji.

Naruto sighed. Well, that had been somewhat boring; he'd hoped for more from two of Konoha's distinguished clans. But they'd still done a good job; it was probably more that they'd been ill-suited to each other. It was hard to fight an enemy that you really had no idea what to do against; Naruto knew from experience.

As soon as the floor cleared, it was time for the third match to be announced. There was less tension this time, for now that everyone had seen two fights with no one dying an ugly death, they'd started to think that it might not be so bad. The roll of names slowed dramatically before stopping at two names that made Naruto blink with surprise:

_Nara Shikamaru vs. Haruno Sakura_

* * *

**Author's Note:** Dun, dun, DUUUUUN. And I leave you there, my kind readers. Yes, it's a bit short but I love cliffhangers, and that was the best one I could come up with. Next chapter; Shika vs. Sakura, who will win?! What are the next groups to go? And – oh my! Naruto is fighting _who_? Please leave a review! (Rhyme!) (And just as a note, I am high on sugar.)

_Baika no Jutsu_ (Multi-size technique): Used to expand the user's stomach and make them huge. A secret Akimichi technique.  
_Nikudan Sensha_ (Human Bullet Tank): Used to make a person into a human sized ball after using the Multi-size technique.

**(1)** Uhm, I know that this seems a bit unlikely . . . . But I'm pretty sure that Iruka was prepared for Naruto & co. to summon him, so he was all dressed and crap. But he didn't expect them to finish so soon, so he wasn't prepared, which led to half-dressed Iruka . . . . Plus my inner fangirl kept giggling at the thought of him being summoned half-dressed, so my muse wouldn't let me take it out and put something more realistic in . . . . XD  
**(2)** Poor Kakashi keeps getting the short end of the stick, doesn't he? XD  
**(3)** I meant for just Kabuto to go, but I realized that would leave 23 people, which means an uneven number of battles . . . . So I decided to take out another of his teammates and leave it at 22, which means 11 even battles. I feel so mathematical now. ^^  
**(4)** Bushfire. It's not the most original name in the world, but what can you do? The main reason it's named that is because a "bushfire" is usually quick and mildly powerful, like this technique . . . and I didn't have anymore ideas concerning what to name it . . . .  
**(5)** This move obviously is very similar to the canon move Sasuke did (he snitched it off Rock Lee, didn't he?) but since he and Lee didn't fight, I gave him the Uchiha style instead.


End file.
